Somebody Still Loves You
by TheLabyrinthQueen
Summary: An accident on her way home causes Sarah to end up back in the world of the Labyrinth, But when she gets there,she is not in the Castle Beyond The Goblin City. So where is Jareth? And what trouble has stirred up in the Underground While she has been gone?
1. The Rain

Hey everyone! This isn't my first fan-fic, well it is on this site but I have many other Labby ones posted up on a friends site. If you would like the link just let me know!

Please review, the more reviews, the faster I write!

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Chapter 1

"Oh, come on!" Sarah blurted out, frustrated. She turned up the speed of the windshield wipers as high as they would go. The rain was pouring down harder then she had ever seen. It was her fall break from college and she was heading home to see Toby, her father and Karen.

She squinted her eyes trying to see out of the windshield.

"Arg, this is no good! I can't see a thing, I don't even know if I missed my turn or not." The road she was on was winding though the mountains, in the middle of nowhere. Sarah felt like she made a wrong turn, somewhere. The rain was just pouring down, too hard to see. She took a turn around a bend and lights from a car that seemed to pop out of nowhere blinded her.

"I can't see...Where's the..," But she didn't have time to finish, the car slid out of control, she fought to keep the car steady. Suddenly, she felt she was being jolting in every direction, the car has slid off the road and down a muddy hill side, and was now rolling out of control.

Sarah gripped the wheel with all her strength and shut her eyes. Finally, the car seemed to have stopped. She released the breath she seemed to be holding and forced herself to open her eyes. The car was on the driver's side. She took a few shaky breaths and fumbled for the seat belt, with a soft click she was released. She slowly made her way out of the car and slumped down onto the ground.

"Oh, thank god," She mumbled to herself, she stole a glance at the car, it was totaled. She then glanced down at herself. Nothing seemed to hurt, she had some cuts, but even they weren't hurting. Maybe it was just adrenaline, that's why nothing had set in yet?

"Ok Sarah, Ok," she tried to calm herself. After all, she was rational she just needed to think of what to do next. The closest landmark she could think of was a rundown gas station at least 20 miles back. It was nearly pitch black, the only light was that of the half moon. She timidly walked over to the car and climbed back in to grab her duffel bag. It had a few changes of clothes, a hair brush and a cell phone in it. She sat back down and attempted to find the phone. She opened it, but no service.

"Well isn't that just perfect," She sighed. "Well, come on feet," She said as she picked up her bag and started up the hill.

The rain was still pouring down hard as ever, she would get a few feet up the hill, and then slip right back down. Each time she dug her feet into the mud deeper, but it was all in vain. She slinked back down and sat down, now covered in mud. She sat cross legged and put her fingers against her temples, Sarah closed her eyes thinking.

"Well there's nothing I can do just sitting here, maybe If I just try to follow along the side of the road, there will be a less steeper face," Sarah said out load, to herself, she needed to hear a voice. Shock was finally setting in, she got a good look around, noticing, she was really alone, in a dark night with rain, and a wrecked car.

She slowly tried the trace the road from below. Stepping as lightly as she could, occasionally hearing a twig snap or a bush rustle. She was not normally one to get paranoid, but giving the situation...

"It's just the rain Sarah," She encouraged herself. "And you're out in the middle of nowhere, it's more than likely just a deer or something." The 'something' she really didn't want to think about. A little panicky, she picked up her pace, but that came to a stop when she ran into a steeper hill side then the one back at the car. There was no point in just going back now, so she slowly started to inch across it.

"Piece of cake..."She muttered, it sounding more like a question then anything else. She sighed a sigh of relief when she made it the first few steps, then her feet lost their grip. Sarah let out a high pitched scream and she went tumbling down the hill. She felt a brief moment of free fall, and then landed with a loud 'thud' into more mud.

"Oooooo..." She moaned. Now she hurt too much to move. She laid there and looked up, the trees above her seeming to swirl in every which way. "Ah stop spinning," Her muffled voice mumbled.

She swept her hand across her forehead, and noticed blood and mud on her hand. She sighed and rested her hand on her ribs. Sarah then closed her eyes as a throbbing headache seemed to take over.

Suddenly, she thought she hear mutters coming from all around her.

'It's just the rain' she thought to herself.

"What should we do with it?"

"Is it still alive?"

"Lady Terra will know"

"Yeah, but it's a Human! She gots in big trouble last time she had one!"

"Twas the Princess's orders fo' us ta bring her anythin we find! We found it didn't we?"

Sarah knew she was going crazy, she didn't have the strength to open her eyes, but she could have swore she heard voices, in an odd accent that stirred something, something in the back of her memory.

"Should we just carry it?" Another called.

"Well how else was ya think we was gonna bring it home?!"

Sarah couldn't fight the overwhelming blackness that greeted her mind. With one last thing flashed though her head before sleep overcame her.

'Was that a....Goblin?'

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Sorry this chappy was kinda rushed, but I wanna get to the good stuff!

Please review! I will love you forever. And Give you a cookie!


	2. We Have A Guest

Author: Sorry for the short first chapter, this one will be longer, like I promised.

Sarah:Thats what he said.

Jareth: Well now...

Sarah: Oh come on it was a joke!

Author: Cant we please let the readers maybe um READ now?

Sarah: I guess.

Jareth: She started it...

Sarah: No, I didn't I was just trying to lighten the mood!

Author: Ahem, anyways..

Enjoy everyone! Please REVIEW, the more reviews, the faster I post the next chapter! I like to hear what you have to say. =]

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Chapter 2

Sarah felt the sun rays hit her eyes. She sighed deeply and rolled onto her side. She snuggled against some of the softest sheets she has ever felt. Did Karen go shopping? She never gets things this nice, especially not for Sarah's old room. Wait, no, she never made it to her house... Images started flashing back in her mind, the lights, the car, her fall and the strange voices.

Wait, shouldn't she still be laying in the mud? Sarah heard some mumbles and her eyes flashed open. Leaning over her was a beautiful girl, she must have been around Sarah's age, she wore a long rose colored dress with sleeves down to her wrists, her hair was in one long braid hanging over one of her shoulders. Her smile was brilliant. Her eyes were sparkling from excitement, also appearing mismatched, with high arched eyebrows.

"Well hi there," She said to Sarah, who sat up in alarm. Sarah glimpsed around to see she was in a large room, one she had never seen before, it was themed with lavender and white. Also standing around her were a small crowd of goblins and other such creatures, and the other girl.

"Oh back away you all, give her some room, your more than likely scaring her with all your stares, go on now," The girl said mildly, her voice having somewhat of an English accent to it. Once the goblins had back away a bit, she turned her attention back to Sarah. She sat down on the edge of the bed, keeping her distance.

"Hello, I'm Terra, who are you?" She said, pronouncing each word slowly, smiling a golden smile at Sarah expectantly. Sarah was guessing she was back in the Underground, hence forth the Goblins.

"Uh, um I…I…" Sarah stumbled over her words trying to speak. How did she get back here?!

Terra must have thought Sarah's confusion for fear.

"Don't be scared. I promise no one here will hurt you, but after what you looked like last night I don't blame you for being scared," Terra said cheerily. Sarah was about to speak up but the girl went on. "My Goblins said they saw you fighting a metal beast! It drug you down a hill and spat you out! Then you were even so brave as to go inside the dead beast to retrieve your things! Amazing! They followed you for a while, before bringing you here." She made hand motions as she re-told the story.

"Metal Beast?" Sarah questioned. "You mean my car? I wasn't fighting with it. I got blinded by some other cars headlights, and swerved off the road."

"Car?" Terra asked honestly curious. "Headlights?"

Now Sarah was sure she must be in the Underground. But who was this girl? She also noticed she wore pajamas of the softest material she ever had known. Terra saw her eye her clothes.

"When they brought you here, you were pretty dirty, and you had so many cuts...I didn't want them to get infected, so I cleaned you up and put you in some nicer clothes." Terra said sympathetically.

"Oh, uh, thank you," Sarah said noticing the bandages wrapped around her hands and arms. "I'm Sarah, by the way."

"Lady Terra," one of the goblins spoke up.

"Hush for a moment," Terra told him, calmly.

"Lady Terra?" Sarah asked.

"Oh yes, that's what they are supposed to call me, I am Lady Terra, Princess of the Labyrinth." She gestured out to the window, which had a view of none other than the Labyrinth.

Sarah's eyes widened.

"So I really am back in the Underground?" She asked aloud. Lady Terra looked puzzled at this,

"What do you mean, 'back' in the Underground?" Lady Terra asked timidly. Her gaze was very curious, not hostile at all. Just was simply wondering.

Sarah wasn't sure what to say. It had only been 3 years or so since she was here. Would she be in danger being here again? And this girl said she was the 'Princess' of the Labyrinth. What about Jareth? Wasn't he King?

Lady Terra waited for an answer, but before Sarah could say anything, the main door to the room opened quickly, and another girl stepped inside. She looked at Sarah in awe, and quickly walked over to Lady Terra.

"Aye you didn't!" She threw her hands in the air and looked at Terra. "Ye 'member what happen last time ya were stickin' your nose were it ought not be! I been hearin' yer goblins mumblin' all mourn!" The girl crossed her arms and looked down at Terra.

"I know, I know," Lady Terra started "But they just bring me back what they find, I didn't know they would bring back a human. And you should have seen her when they brought her here, she was covered in mud, and all cut up and completely knocked out. I couldn't just tell them to take her back!"

Sarah looked between the two girls, she was grateful this girl had come in, directing the question away, for the time anyways.

"Forgive me," The girl said, looking to Sarah. "I'm Lydia, I work 'ere in the castle. I dun be meanin' to sound rude to you or anythin', just, well..." she seemed to consider her words carefully. "Humans ain't really very common 'ere."

"Does anyone else know?" Terra asked Lydia.

"No, no one else, but you best be making sure yer little goblins aint jabbin' away about it. The cook 'bout thought me mad when I was trying to shut 'em all up in the kitchen this mornin'!" Lydia raised her eyebrows. "What do you intend to do with her now?"

"Well..."Terra replied, not really knowing. Lydia threw her arms up again and huffed out a sigh. "Well I hadn't thought that far yet!" She mildly defended herself.

"Wait, can't you just send me back home?" Sarah asked. Both girls looked at each other then Sarah.

"Well," Lady Terra ran her hand up and down her arm. "I'm not really sure how to do that. "

"Wait, but the goblins brought me here, why can't they just take me back the same way?!" Sarah said, a hint of panic on the edge of her voice.

"Commin' 'ere' and leavin' is two very different matters," Lydia piped in.

Sarah sighed and rested against the headboard. This had to be some sort of joke. What did they mean? She couldn't go back? Ever?

"But don't worry!" Terra added quickly. "There is a way to do it, I just don't know how...But I'll find out! It may take a while...But we can get to know each other and become really good friends and you can tell me everything about the Aboveground!" She seemed to try and state something positive for everything negative.

So there was a way, they just didn't know.

"So in the mean time, how are we supposed to hide 'er?" Lydia proposed.

"Well...Why don't we just try to make her more 'Fae' like?" Lady Terra suggested.

Sarah knew that word, in her book 'Labyrinth', that was what the species of the king, and the Royal families. They were built, like the ideal human, but with better features. Flawless bodies, stunning beauty, the list could go on.

"That might work, for a moment, but her scent, you can smell she is human right away," Lydia pointed out.

Lady Terra seemed to ponder this for a while, then suddenly, her eye's flashed and she stood up. "Lydia, could you stay here with Sarah for a moment?" Lydia nodded and Terra walked out of the room.

Sarah then took the time to notice that Lydia wore a much different outfit then Lady Terra. She had just a simple brown dress on with a full length white apron. Her hair was pulled back in a tight bun. But she still had the same studding features as the other girl.

"I swear, trouble is 'er middle name it is!" Lydia smiled and sat down on a nearby chair. "Even when we was little, she always was snoopin' where she ought not to be."

"So you have been here a while?" Sarah asked wanted to talk. She needed to hear a somewhat normal conversation.

"Aye, since I was 'bout five or so. My older brother, Adrien, used to work 'ere in the stables years ago. Our father had died right after I was born. And me poor ol' mother just couldn' cope. She ended up diein' o' grief. So Adrien went into town with me to look for work and a place to stay. We had no money to keepin' the house. That's when he got lucky 'nuff to run up on the stable job." She paused. "Like I said, I was only 'bout 5 or so, so I wasn' very much help. Princess Terra came down to the stables to fetch 'er horse one day. There weren't no other kids 'round really so, after that day, she came down every day. And we have just been good friends ever since."

"Ah, Adrien owns his own blacksmith shop now he does. The best in the nearest 4 kingdoms, even the king calls on 'im for that makin' of this 'or that. I could 'ave gone with 'im, but I just couldn't bear to leave a friend I suppose." She smiled warmly.

Sarah was about to speak when Lady Terra darted back into the room with a bottle in her hand. She held it out victoriously.

"See? This should work right?" She asked Lydia.

"What is it?" Sarah asked eyeing it.

"It's a cream for your skin. It will cover up your scent for the most part, just make sure to keep it on all exposed skin all the time." Terra said with a mild warning.

"Well let's see what we can put together 'ere," Lydia said, opening the drawers of the vanity.

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After an hour or so, Sarah stared at herself in the full body mirror. She was a little shocked, her appearance truly fit in the Underground now. Her make-up went high to her eye brows, very close to the other girl's make-up. She wore a long green dress with a slight flare to it, it had a squared neckline, with silver embedding along the trim. The sleeves came just past her elbows, belling out. Her hair hung free.

Terra and Lydia ogled over their work. Once making sure Sarah had put the lotion like cream all over her, Lady Terra announced that she was going to go to the library to look some things up that might help Sarah get home, and Lydia was to take her to the dining hall to get something for her to eat. No one should be there as of yet. But they soon would have to relay the information that they had a guest here. Terra followed them to the dining hall in light conversation with Sarah.

"So a car is a carriage without any horses? I don't get it, how does it move then?" She asked, her eyes sparkling.

"Well, it runs off gasoline..." And she attempted to explain. Also along the way, Terra asked everything she could spit out about Aboveground, looking to Sarah for the answers; the weather there, the food, clothes, activities and so on. Finally they reached the dining room. The cook came from the kitchen and asked if there was anything they wanted specially made. Princess Terra informed him that Sarah was a guest here for a while and she should be cooked whatever she wished. The cook asked no questions, but bowed deeply to them both.

Sarah felt strange being bowed to. Terra turned to her.

"So, what would you like to eat?" But then quickly turned back to the cook. "Make her one of my favorites, if she doesn't like, them, re-fix her something else alright?" He nodded and strolled back into the kitchen. The Princess giggled.

"Listen to me ask you what you want to eat! Boy, I could have blown it there. You don't know the first thing about Underground food," She whispered. Sarah was about to speak but the Princess continued.

"Just be honest with the cook, if you don't like something don't eat it, he doesn't mind making something else. Well, I am off to do a bit of reading and see what we can do about your, situation. And my brother should be home anytime now. Try to keep her clear of him Lydia, he's too clever and I fear he would figure you out Sarah." The princess left Sarah and Lydia as they seated themselves.

"She's sure a talker hm?" Lydia looked over to Sarah.

"She seems very interested with Aboveground," Sarah replied, not wanting to call a Princess 'too talkative'. It felt funny saying 'Aboveground'. "Why is she so interested in it anyways?"

"She's always been that like. Sendin' 'er little goblins up every few days to bring back whatever they find. I'm sure she will ask you about every little thing she's got, stowed 'way in 'er room. It's sorta a hobby of 'ers."

Just about that time, the food was brought out.

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Terra sat in a high backed chair in the library, when she heard the door open. Her brother must be home. He was always gone for one reason or another. She quickly closed the book in her hands and slid it onto the close shelf, then pretended to be glancing over the titles of other books.

When her brother came into her sight, she turned to greet him cheerfully.

"Hello Brother, how was your trip?" She gave him a light hug.

"It was pointless to say the least," He told her.

"Oh come on Jareth, it couldn't have been that bad,"

"Oh but it was," But he went into no further detail. "So I hear we have a guest?"

'Surprise, surprise, how fast news travels in here,' Terra though to herself.

"Yes we do," And she dropped it. She knew Jareth wasn't going to let it go that quickly though, it was a very, very rare occasion to have a guest staying here.

"Well...?" Jareth asked her. She couldn't play dumb now.

"Yes, she is a cousin of Lydia. She has recently lost her family, and needed somewhere to stay until she could get on her feet again. So I told Lydia to bring her here." Terra lied smoothly.

"Hm, I'm sorry that happened to her," He said in all sincerity.

"Yeah, she is pretty upset about it, she has been staying in her room. So you may not see much of her," She tried to use the conversation to her advantage.

"Well maybe you should let her get to know everyone. The wonderful Seasonally Ball is tomorrow night," he added a bit sarcastically. It was the same thing every time. The Royal families get together, with their closest friends, drink and dance. Talk about anything going exceptionally well, then drink and dance some more. Well it wasn't always that bad, until the Rozengem family came. They're younger daughter, Colleen, has had her eyes foxed on Jareth for some time. Colleen's father has spoken to Jareth and Jareth's father many times trying to arrange a marriage. But Jareth would not hear of it. She was a beauty, he'd give her that, but she was spoiled, selfish and all about herself, to say the least.

"Well she just got here today and I want to give her time to settle in..." Terra tried to think of another excuse.

"I'm sure you could get her ready by then. It's rude to keep a guest hidden you know," He added."You don't want her wandering around here with everyone staring at her do you?

"Well no," She started, but couldn't find anything else to say.

"Good then. I am going to get cleaned up, and there are a few more things I have to get ready for tomorrow, So I shall you see then my sister," Jareth gave her a nod as he walked out of the room.

After Terra was sure Jareth was out of earshot, she muttered to herself, "Great...Just...Great."

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So what did you think? REVIEW please.

3


	3. The Ball

Wow 3 chapters in 3 days, arn't you all happy! Sorry for the lack of Jarethness in the first two chapters, but a lot had to build up for the next few chapters.

Read and Review please 3

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Chapter 3

Sarah had eaten with Lydia, very timidly, by the way. Not one of the foods brought out looked like anything she had ever seen, she just hoped they agreed with her stomach. Lydia said she had something she needed to do, and asked Sarah if she would be ok in her room for a while. Sarah said it was fine, she would find something to do.

As they were walking down the hall, towards her room, Sarah asked,

"So what is this place exactly?"

"This is the family castle of Faden. It overlooks the Labyrinth, and most 'o the rest of the realm. It suits as the main home 'or all the members of the family. It's also where all the big events n' such take place. Each 'o the children has their own wing in the castle, most havin' a least a dozen or more rooms for 'em. Also," But she was cut short as a little girl bounced around the corner.

"Lydia! There you are! I heard we have a guest!" The little girl beamed with excitement, much like Terra. She ran towards them and stopped with a graceful stop. Even so young, she was the most beautiful child Sarah had ever seen.

"Ah there ye are missy, I was wonderin' when you'd show up. With all hub bub goin' 'round, I knew you wouldn' be far behind," Lydia smiled putting her hands on her hips.

The little girl seemed to run her eyes over Sarah.

"Hi, I'm Lynnett, I'm Terra younger sister," She curtsied quickly. "So what's your name?" Lynnett asked before Sarah could answer. Yes she was much like her older sister.

"I'm Sarah," Sarah said. The little girl smiled up at her. She must have been only 8 or 9. She had on an adorable scarlet shin length dress, embroidered with swirls and lace and beads. She wore black kid boots and had Blond hair that swirled around her shoulders. She also had the Fae features, making her the perfect looking child.

"Well then Miss Lynnett, I need to take Sarah back to 'er room. I have some things needin' to be done," Lydia gently pulled Sarah along.

"Hey, wait! I just met her!" Lynnett ran up and grabbed a hold of Sarah's hand. "Can I take Sarah to see the Gardens Lydia? Please? It's much better than being locked up in a stuffy room with nothing to do! Please? Please?!"

Lydia sighed and her eyes darted back and forth between Lynnett and Sarah. She technically couldn't say no. Even though Lynnett was so young, she was still a princess and, giving the case, Lydia would have to obey her, not the other way around. But Lynnett already knew this.

"Well, If, and I mean if, Sarah would like to go, then I don' see a problem with it." Lydia shot a glance at Sarah.

"Sarah?" Lynnett looked up at her still holding her hand.

"Um, I guess that'd be alright," Sarah replied looking between the two.

"Goodie!" Lynnett cried.

"Miss Lynnett," Lydia called as she was dragging Sarah down the hall, "Not everyone has had the chance to meet Sarah yet, so make sure to keep it just the two o' you, alright?"

"Sure," She called back. "No one is ever down there aside from me!"

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Lynnett led Sarah through the most beautiful gardens she had ever seen. There were flowers and strange plants she had never seen before everywhere. Sarah acted as if she knew what she was talking about when Lynnett went on about how this flower smelled like this or this kind is almost ready to bloom. Sarah didn't want to let up on her act at all.

Lynnett also gave Sarah a quick view of the stables, game yard, and the hot springs. It really was a beautiful place. Not at all like when she visited the Labyrinth before. Not even close. Lynnett went on and on telling Sarah stories and games that she liked to play. And got a good idea of what the little girl liked to do in her spare time. Before too long Sarah found herself at the door to 'her room'.

"Well I guess I'll let you rest, you look tired," Lynnett said with a shy smile.

"Lynnie! What are you doing?" Terra's voice rang out softly as she came down the hallway.

"I just took Sarah for a look around, we had fun, right Sarah?" She looked up at Sarah for confirmation.

"Yeah, she was just showing me around. Lydia had some things to do, so I went with Lynnett," Sarah answering Terra's unspoken question. Lynnett didn't know.

"Well then Lynnie, why don't you run along and play for a while? Sarah has had a long day and I'm sure she would like to go and relax," Terra walked into the room and bid Sarah to follow.

"Alright, bye Sarah, I'll see you later!" And she bounced off.

Once inside the room, Sarah sat on the edge of the bed, and Terra next to her.

"Sarah, we kinda have a problem…" Terra winced at the words as she said them, waiting for Sarah's reaction.

"...What would that be?" Sarah let her shoulders slump forward.

"You see, my brother came home today, and he heard there was a guest here. Tomorrow night is our Seasonal Ball. Everyone gets all dressed up and all the Royal families get together, with some friends as well. I was going to try to skip out, but my brother insisted you come. He said it was rude to keep a guest hidden. But the more I think about it, it might be better to bring you, if we keep you in your room all day, people might get suspicious."

Sarah just looked at her like she grew a second head.

"You know, everyone wears fancy cloths and masks' and so on, so maybe we can just make you blend in and he might forget," she said trying to raise Sarah's hopes a bit.

"There are a few things wrong with that," Sarah started. "First, I can't dance. At all. I mean I am really bad. And second, I don't have anything to wear."

Princess Terra pondered this for a moment.

"Oh you can't be that bad. And I'm sure I could find something for you to wear..."

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The next evening Sarah found herself in a long scarlet dress, the flares out, like most popular ballroom dresses. It was embroidered in charcoal colored lace, all along the trim of the dress, and throughout the layers of skirts. The sleeves hung off Sarah's shoulders while the neck line came into a 'V' line, showing a bit too much cleavage for Sarah's liking. Her hair was wound up in an elegant fashion, with a few ringlets falling onto her shoulders. This by far was one of the most beautiful dresses Sarah had ever seen. She felt unworthy wearing it.

They went over the whole story that Sarah would claim to be Lydia's cousin, who had just lost her family and was offered to live here by Princess Terra until she got back on her feet. She made sure to put on the 'lotion' Terra had given her.

"Terra, what would happen if someone found out I was human?" Sarah asked timidly, not wanting to look into Terra's eyes.

"Well, there was a human that fell into my hands a few years ago..." She seemed to stop to gather her thoughts. "But he wasn't brought here like you were, he found the goblins while they were up there," She pointed up. "He just happened to make it back with them. There was an old Wise Man that used to live in the castle. He said he would send the boy back home, if he said nothing to anyone about this place. He agreed and the Wise Man sent him back Aboveground. Apparently the boy didn't keep his word, and convinced some other humans this place was real. He almost led them here, knowing where my goblins had been last time."

Sarah listened intently, not letting her face show any emotion.

"When someone told the High King, my father, that the portals were being tampered with by humans, he sent his personal guards Aboveground to bring the boy back. They succeeded, and he was brought before my father. He was enraged. The boy..."She stopped, not wanting to say it out loud. She decided to change her wording. "...he never made it back home again. And the old Wise Man was locked away for life for sending him back without speaking to my father about it first. He died shortly after his imprisonment."

Sarah's heart skipped a beat. So the last human who came here was killed, along with the person that helped him, who happened to be the only one Sarah knew of that could have gotten her home.

"Humans were banned from this realm after that. If anyone was to ever find a human, they were to be brought straight to the High King," Terra added quietly.

"What will happen to you if they find out?" Hundreds of thoughts raced though Sarah's head.

"I'm not sure..." Before Terra could finish, the clock on the wall chimed. "Hey! We are going to be late!"

The girls made their way towards the door, picking up their masks on the way out.

Lydia and Lynnett were waiting shortly down the hall.

"And see! I told you I would find something, it looks wonderful on you!" Terra chanted as she looked Sarah over.

"Yeah, it so pretty on you!" Lynnett rang in.

"Now remember, if someone asks you to dance, just tell them no, if you don't want to. Most of the dances are choreographed, so I didn't really have time to teach you any. There are a few free style one they play though," Princess Terra mumbled to Sarah.

"Now Sarah, me and Lynnett have to sit at the head table with my brother. But Lydia will be with you the whole time till I get there," Terra told her as she and her sister made their way through a different door.

"Come on now, best be findin' out seats, tis 'bout to start soon," Lydia said leading her into the grand ballroom.

They found their seats, there were so many people! At least 300 or so. The room was lit by dozens of candle lit chandlers, allowing the corners of the room to darken, thankfully, where she was sitting. Sarah tried to spot out Terra and Lynnett, but there table was too far away. The music stared up as she watched the glamorous couples take the dance floor.

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Jareth leaned back in his chair, eyeing the couples on the dance floor. He had wished to remain 'in the shadows' so to speak tonight. He knew Colleen was here, the youngest daughter of the Rozengem family. Colleen was one he really tried to avoid. Her family had pushed Jareth into trying to commit to her profusely. Jareth simply had no interest in her. Her looks were only skin deep, her selfish, vain personality ruined it for her. He thumbed at his wine glass tiredly. His eyes hot up as his sister approached.

"Enjoying yourself?" She asked cheerfully.

"Immensely..."Jareth rolled his eyes."So how is our guest enjoying herself?"

"Just fine, I believe Lynnett is dragging her and Lydia around at the moment," She added lightly.

"Ah I see, before I forget, you have seemed to fail to mention the name of our guest," Jareth said, raising his eye brows.

"Did I? Forgive me, her name is-" But she was cut off as a fiery red head strolled over to Jareth.

"Jareth! There you are! What are you doing hiding over here? The ball has been going on for over an hour and you have yet to ask me to dance," Colleen hinted. Jareth quickly glanced her over. She wore a very form fitting golden dress with a slit on the side clear up to her hip. She batted her eyelashes at Jareth. He shot a glance at his sister. Terra shrugged sympathetically, and backed off.

"Hello Colleen," He replied flatly. "I find I am a bit too tired for dancing tonight."

He hoped she would take the hint.

"Aw, come on, you can't be too tired for one tiny little dance can you?" She pouted.

Nope. She didn't take the hint.

"Maybe later tonight Colleen," He had no desire to spend any more time with her then needed.

"I'll hold you to it," Colleen said, strutting away. Jareth sighed. He really disliked that woman. Suddenly something got Jareth's attention.

A young woman in a scarlet dress stood about 20 feet away from his table. She appeared to be declining an offer to dance by a young gentleman. Jareth had never seen her before, she wore a mask, as all the other women were. But he knew he surely hadn't met her before. He could tell she was beautiful without even seeing all her face. Lydia, Terra's lady in waiting, came up behind her and they began talking.

So this must be the guest? He was pretty sure of it. They started to walk away and out of his sight. Before Jareth knew what he was doing, he was up and out of his chair. His eye's scanned the crowed until he saw them again. Something drew him to follow them. Something seemed familiar. He gracefully made his way through the crowd and straight up to them.

"Lydia, good evening," Jareth lightly smiled. The girl in the scarlet dress was looking the other way.

"Good evening Your Highness," Lydia curtsied deeply.

As soon as Sarah heard that voice, she turned.

"This must be the guest that everyone has been talking about," Jareth looked straight into her eyes. "I'm sorry I haven't met you earlier. I'm Jareth, Terra's older brother. Would you mind giving me the honor of this dance?" He asked her politely, holding his hand out.

Sarah just stared dumbstruck for a moment. Jareth, Jareth was standing right in front of her. He looked almost no different than the last time she had seen him. Before she could answer his question, he lightly grabbed her hand and led her out to the dance floor.

This was bold of Jareth, very bold. He never pulled someone into a dance he had never met. He rarely danced at all anymore, unless it was for a formality. But something seemed all too familiar about this girl, far too familiar. Her eyes were shaded by her elaborate mask. He had seen this girl before, he now knew he did. But from where? If he could just take her mask off, he would know.

The music started up, and Jareth pulled her into a comfortable stance, and stepped forward. He saw she struggled with her footwork. She stepped on his foot clumsily.

"I'm sorry," She muttered quickly. "I'm a terrible dancer, it's not fair." Her voice shook.

That voice.

It's not fair.

It's not fair.

It's not fair.

Jareth froze. His eyes widened. It couldn't be. There was no way, there was absolutely no way...

He leaned forward, his face only an inch from hers, and narrowed his eyes.

He asked very, very slowly, "...Sarah?"

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Review please my lovies! 3


	4. So much to take in

Thanks so the reveiws everyone! 3 3 3 Keep em comming.

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Chapter 4

Sarah froze. Jareth was only an inch away from her, his arms still around her. 'What do I say?!' She thought to herself. Her mouth just wouldn't work. She took a step backwards, releasing her from Jareth's arms.

"Sarah! There you are!" Lady Terra said, making her way past a few people. Jareth's eyes darted from Sarah, to his sister, then Sarah again.

'Perfect timing...' Sarah thought to herself sarcastically.

"Sarah..." He breathed out.

She looked down, then back up at him.

Sarah turned fast on her heels and headed for the door. Jareth found his feet and started towards her. Terra grabbed his arm.

"Jareth, what's wrong?" She asked.

"WHY didn't you tell me?! How did she get here?!" Jareth yanked his arm out of her grasp. He glared at her, waiting.

"What do you mean, 'she'? Sarah?" She asked innocently.

"Don't answer me with more questions!" He growled out. By this time, everyone that was around was staring at them. Jareth grabbed his sister's arm and headed outside.

"Now, let's not draw any attention to this..." He said though his teeth.

Once there were outside and away from the crowd, Jareth turned to his sister for an answer.

"Jareth, I'm sorry. I should have told you there was a human in the castle, but I didn't think you would over react so much. I didn't bring her here, my goblins did when they made their weekly trip Aboveground for me and-" Jareth's hysterical laughter stopped Terra from going on.

"What's so funny?" Terra spoke slowly. Jareth had stopped and looked at her. She really didn't know. Well how could she? His sister had never seen Sarah before, so she didn't know.

"A human? You think I'd get this worked up over just a plain old human? My dear sister, you didn't just hide a human here, no no. You have been hiding none other than the only human ever to defeat my Labyrinth, the girl who turned away everything, the girl who is technically entitled to half of my kingdom. You have brought none other than Sarah. THE Sarah, Sarah Williams." Jareth took in a breath, a deep breath. It felt odd to say her name again.

"Her?!" His sister pointed back inside. "I...didn't know Jareth, really I didn't!"

"I know," Jareth sighed. "I'm sorry, I should not have directed that towards you."

"It's okay, I'm sorry Jareth, I really am. I had no clue that was her. It's been a few years since you have talked to me about it. And even then you were brief." Terra looked sympathetically at her older brother, seeing the pain in his eyes.

"Why don't you explain to me how you kept her hidden? How did no one smell a human here? And even up close she appeared Fae," He paused and looked at his sister. "And then help me decide what we are to do with her..."

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Sarah was running down the hall as fast as her feet would let her. She couldn't believe what just happened. She ran into her room and pushed the door closed. She turned, but didn't hear the click of the door close. She waited for a moment and when it didn't come, she turned back around. The tiny figure that was Lynnett was standing in the doorway with a slight frown on her face. She took a step into Sarah's room.

"What's the matter?" She asked with all the innocence of a child. "I saw my brother say something to you, then you ran off."

Sarah just stood there, what was she supposed to say?

"Did my brother say something that hurt your feelings?" She asked again, shutting the door behind her.

"Your brother?!" Sarah spat out as she removed the mask from her face and slung it at the other side of the room.

"Yes, Jareth is my older brother," Lynnett said as a matter of fact. Sarah only let the shock hit her for a moment before she started digging though the dresser. She found her normal clothes and darted off into the closet. She shrugged herself out of the dress as fast as she could, and changed back into her clothes.

"I need to go, I'll find Hoggle, or someone, that can help me get back home." Sarah mumbled to herself as she pulled the pins out of her hair and let them fall everywhere.

Lynnett watched in confusion as Sarah continued talking to herself. The little girl just didn't have a clue.

Sarah made her way to the door. She walked past Lynnett and started to open the door. Jareth's face and words were engraved in the back of her mind. Jareth was Lynnett and Terra's brother. So that meant the High King was Jareth's father, the one who had put the last human that was here to death. Would Jareth try to do the same? Would that be his revenge for her defeating him? Sarah though this nightmare was over, years ago.

She walked though the doorway only to walk into something. She stumbled back and looked up at none other than the Goblin King.

"And where do you think you are going?" He asked calmly crossing his arms.

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"Your Highness," King Simon continued, "You now see why it is in your son's best interest to agree to this. Colleen is a wonderful young woman, who adores your son. And he will need someone to rule by his side soon anyways won't he? Ever other King his age is married and-"

The High King held up his hand.

"I understand. I do wish for my son to marry soon as well. I feel like I have given him plenty of time to pick a bride of his choice, but since he has not, I think this is what I must do. He has been depressed far too long," The High King agreed.

"So you are saying you agree your Highness?" King Simon asked eagerly.

"I will agree. Under one condition, 6 months." The High King stated.

"6 months, Sire?" The lesser king asked.

"Yes. If Jareth does not find a suitable wife in 6 months time, Colleen will take the role, and become his Queen," The High King didn't like deciding these things for his only son. But if something happened to him, Jareth would have to take over, and doing it alone would be a far too great challenge.

King Simon, Colleen's father, bowed deeply. After thanking the High King, He left to tell his daughter of the news.

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Sarah stared up at Jareth. He had his eyebrows raised and looked at her waiting for an answer. After a moment, Sarah's voice allowed her to speak.

"I...I'm leaving, I'm sorry I shouldn't have ending up here anyways."

Jareth looked her over quickly, she wore just a pair of jeans and a thin long sleeved shirt. Not in the best of shape either. He could finally get a good look at her. He almost laughed to himself when he saw her makeup, trying to match the nature skin effects of being Fae, It was very, very close. Terra had explained everything to Jareth since Sarah arrival. The make-up, lotion, ect.

"If you really want to leave, I won't stop you, but I'm afraid you'd freeze out there right now. Our winters are a tiny bit harsher than your Aboveground winters." Sarah allowed herself to break eye contact with him to turn around and look out the window in her room. The snow seemed to be falling in blankets, and the wind whipped it around.

Tiny. Right.

"What? Sarah you can't leave yet! You just got here," Lynnett chimed in stepping between Jareth and Sarah. Jareth looked down at his little sister.

"Lynnett, would you mind letting me speak to Sarah alone? We really have some things we need to talk about in private," Jareth gave Lynnett a smile, assuring her she would find out everything later.

"Alright..." and she skipped off.

Sarah thought of how she must look right now, in front of Jareth who was still dressed in his formal dress-wear. She shook the thought from her mind, taking one more glance out at the snow, suddenly finding some boldness.

"Why would you care anyways, I know you're angry I'm here, arn't you?" She asked him sure of herself.

'Sarah, Sarah..' Jareth thought to himself.

"I said I wouldn't stop you," Jareth started as Sarah stared to walk away from him and down the hall. "But, I would prefer you to stay here. I wouldn't want anything to happen to you." He tried not to give himself away, without sounding too soft.

Sarah froze and turned to look at him. He was leaning against the door frame, his arms still crossed. He didn't look angry, she couldn't really read his expression.

"But I can't stay here, Terra told me what happened to the last human that was here..."Sarah shrugged that thought away quickly.

"I will take care of it. Besides, if you leave, anyone who finds you will just bring you back here anyways. You are a human, and by law they have to bring you here. Nothing will harm you though. That human Terra spoke of was a different case. As of now I don't see you getting any better offers," Jareth smiled at her warmly.

He was right. Whether Sarah wanted him to be or not. She took a few slow steps back towards her room.

"When can I go home?" Sarah asked the pointless question, not really expecting anything other then what he answered.

"I'm not sure. I don't know how to send you home, I have no power to do so. Only if you were wished here, do you get the right to go home again. Any other way, there is nothing I know of that I can do," Jareth said gently. Sarah nodded and walked back into her room. She sat down on the edge of the bed and put her hands in her lap, looking down.

"You're not angry I'm here?" she asked still looking down.

Jareth sat down in a chair a few feet away.

"Angry? No. I am not angry you are here," he answered simply.

"It was kinda a crazy accident," Sarah mumbled.

"No, Sarah, there are no accidents," He said as he tried to catch her glance. "I believe there is something we need to talk about though. If you are going to be here for," He paused to look at her expression, "A while, then I should let you know about something." He was a bit reluctant to carry on, but soon everyone would find out she was here, and they both knew it. So it was going to get brought up sooner or later.

"What is it?" She asked looking up at him. She looked as if she were about to cry.

"When you defeated my Labyrinth, you won your brother back and your way home yes, but I'm afraid that you also won something else. You are entitled to half of my kingdom, for being the only victor ever. It's the law." He looked away from her.

Sarah pulled her eyebrows together. What did he mean she won half of his kingdom? And who said she wanted it? She wanted to go home. She glanced up at Jareth. Didn't she?

"This didn't apply to you when you went back Aboveground. Our laws have no effect there, but now that you are here again, they are. It's your right."

This was too much to take in at once. Sarah didn't want to think about any of this. She just wanted to sleep. She didn't want to think that she may never get to go home again, or that she apparently owned half of Jareth's kingdom, or anything. She couldn't stop the tears that flooded her eyes.

Jareth saw her start to cry and stood up. He didn't like to see women cry, especially not Sarah, he blamed that weakness on having to younger sisters. He took another step forward.

"Sarah..."He searched his mind for the words that would comfort her. But he could think of none. Before he could say anything else, Sarah flung herself back on the bed and covered her face with a pillow.

"Just go away..." He heard her muffled plea.

"Sarah, I just want to help," He told her calmly.

'Why was he being so nice?' Sarah thought. Last time she was here, he wasn't like this at all. It was all just tricks. As if he read her mind, he spoke up again.

"I truly want to help Sarah, no puzzles, no games. I don't think you got the best impression of me from the last time you were here," Jareth said.

Maybe he was right, but that was just another thing to take in tonight, she just needed to be alone.

"Please, Jareth," She said his name for the first time. "Please, just leave me alone."

He did as she asked and left the room, softly closing the door. Terra was waiting out in the hall.

"So I guess you heard all that?" Jareth asked her, already knowing she did.

"It's a lot for her to take in Jareth. I don't blame her for wanting to be alone," Terra said. "And from the looks of it, she may be here a while. I combed everything I could think of in the library for a way to get her home. I couldn't find a thing."

"Well then, will you help her get settled in? If she is going to be here, she needs clothes, and fineries and such for her room. I'm sure you can do that much better than I can," Jareth looked at his sister. Terra nodded.

"I'll take her some clothes to sleep in and talk to the tailor in the morning about getting some things together," Terra said. "Oh and father wants to speak to you, met up with him for a moment. It sounds important, so I'd get there if I were you."

"Alright, Goodnight Terra," He said as he walked down the hall.

"Goodnight brother."

Jareth had so much to think about now. Sarah was here. This was really the last thing he expected. He checked up on her here and there, but he didn't want to pry. It bothered him too much. And now here she was. In his family's castle. What was he supposed to do? He really didn't know a way to get her home. So she would have to live here. Where else would she have to go? Nowhere but here.

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Jareth tapped lightly on the door of his father's room. He was bid to come in. His father sat at a large desk. He his hair was darker then Jareth's, and he was a bit taller.

"You wished to speak with me, Sir?" Jareth asked as he gave a bow.

"Yes my son. I was speaking to King Simon tonight, and he brought up the topic of his youngest daughter, Colleen." Jareth involuntarily cringed at her name. "I believe it is high time I agree to his offer. You have waited too long to get married as well. It's not good for you to be a king so long without a queen. You are depressed as well. I am the High King, but I am also your father, and I can tell. Colleen will make a fine wife for you."

Jareth struggled to not let his jaw drop.

"Surely you are jesting Father," Jareth said dryly.

"But you will only marry her if you do not find someone else in 6 months time. I think that is plenty fair Jareth," His father said.

He wasn't joking, he really wasn't. Jareth couldn't believe it. His anger boiled making his skin hot. Marry Colleen?! Ha! The thought made him sick.

"Is that all Father?" He asked through his teeth.

"One more thing, I believe I saw you have a bit of an impression on a young lady tonight. Lynnett told me it was one of the servant's cousins?" He asked.

"Well..." This was going to be a long story. He told his father everything, knowing he wouldn't be able to keep it under wraps for long anyways.

"My. What an interesting turn of events. Well, I will alert all the other officials and everyone will know she is here. She will get half of your kingdom, and you will help her run it. I know of no way to get her home either. Even though she is human, she will be under the royal protection, owning half of your kingdom gives her that right." The high King went on. "She may live here or in your castle, whichever you work out. Your Mother and I will be leaving tonight, so everything will be taken care of by morning."

Jareth was walking out the door when his father called,

"Jareth, even with this going on, you have 6 months, it's already been agreed on. Think wisely my son."

Jareth stormed out of the room. He would never marry Colleen. Never. Not when his heart belonged somewhere else entirely.

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Sorry it took me a fews days to update guys 3

With the Holidays here, things get kinda nuts. PLEASE REVIEW 3 thanks my lovies.


	5. Go Fish

I hope everyone had a good Holiday! Here ya go my lovies. Please review!

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Sarah must have fallen asleep. When she opened her eyes it was dark out, she looked around the room. She was alone. Good. She really didn't want to see anyone right now. She saw a pile of cloths folded neatly at the foot of the bed. She crawled over and unfolded them. It was a pair of satin pajamas, a button up shirt with pants. Also a matching robe and slippers. Denim was very uncomfortable to sleep in, so she changed into the pajamas.

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She got up and walked over to the glass doors looking outside. The wind howled and the snow still fell. So thick she couldn't even see the edge of the balcony. She pressed her head against the cold glass. Hunger pulled her attention away from the storm outside as her stomach rumbled.

"I don't think anyone would mind if I went to get a little snack..."Sarah said to herself, walking out of the room. She walked down the hall, passing countless doors. When she got to the kitchen she dug herself up something that seemed close to a muffin, and a cup of tea. She then left the kitchen, not really wanting to go back to bed yet, she deiced to walk around the castle. She got a good idea of where everything was. Which wings of the home belonged to who, where things such as the library were and such.

It looked different at night though, a bit more intimidating. The candle chandeliers were dimmed and the candles along the walls were all blown out, other then one before each door. The shadows seemed to be swallowing up the halls, making them seem much bigger. Sarah was not one to get a fright easily, but her walking speed picked up none the less. She quickly walked in the directing of her room, needing to go down a few more halls first. Sarah could hear the wind from outside, it howled so very loud. She practically started running, not sure of what got into her. She turned the corner and stopped, leaning against the wall.

'This is silly Sarah,' she thought to herself, 'it's just the wind...'

A hand came down on her shoulder, causing her to scream. Another hand came over her mouth gently, only for a second, then turned her around.

"Good god woman, are you trying to wake everyone?" Jareth's voice said quietly.

"Oh, its you," Sarah said with a sigh of relief, and slumped back against the wall again.

"What were you running from? Shouldn't you be asleep?" Jareth asked taking his hand off her shoulder.

"N-nothing, I just, spooked myself I guess. I came down to the kitchen to get something to eat. I wandered around for a bit, and was on my way back to my room," Sarah told him. 'How embarrassing' she thought.

"Will you allow me to escort you back to your room then?" Jareth asked her in a very gentleman like voice. Sarah bit her lower lip.

"Um, s-sure," She agreed. They walked back to her room without saying a word. Sarah though Jareth seemed distressed. Although he was good at hiding it, she could tell something was the matter. She just hoped she was the cause of it. When they reached her door, she found he courage to speak up.

'Uh, Jareth? Is everything ok? You seem...lost in though," She only held eye contact with him for a moment before looking away. She hadn't seen him for a few years, how would she be able to tell if something was wrong.

Jareth gave a weak half smile at the Sarah's words. 'She see's right though me' He thought. He didn't want to tell Sarah about what his father had told him about Colleen. No. That would only make things that much more complicated. Although, he felt as if he could lie to her completely.

"My father and I just had a little disagreement, that's all," He told her kindly.

"About what?" She asked tilting her head.

"It was nothing," He cast the topic away quickly. "I see you found the cloths Terra laid out for you." He quickly eyed her. She did look truly wonderful, the cloths looked comfortable enough to sleep in, but hugged her body in all the right places, The top button of her night gown was unbuttoned, he quickly snapped his eyes up to make eye contact with her.

"Yes, I'll have to tell her thank you in the morning, they are so nice,"She couldn't think of anything else to say.

Jareth reached out slowly, and brushed a piece of hair out of her face, letting his fingers slowly run down the strand. He never thought he would see her here again, and now here she was. So many emotions ran though him, shock, frustrating...hope.

"They look very nice on you, forest green suits you well," He added lightly. A light blush ran up on Sarah's face. Jareth had to suppress a smirk. He saw she was uneasy, so he decided to let her off the hook.

"I bid you good night, My lady," He bowed slightly for the effect of it and turned to walk down the hall.

"Jareth," She called out, he voice echoed lightly in the hall. He slowly turned around.

"Yes?" He answered.

"Um, I'm sorry about before. I shouldn't have been so rude. I just wanted to be alone for a while. But I'm ok now. And, I'm sorry," She rambled out quickly.

"Think nothing of it. It was perfectly reasonable,"

Sarah went back in her room and closed the door tightly. She could feel the warmth in her cheeks. Maybe this is who Jareth really was. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad living here, maybe.

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The next morning, everything was in order, just as the king said it would be. Everyone knew Sarah was here, and she was to be treated as well as Jareth, Terra and Lynnett would be treated. Sarah wondered down to the kitchen for breakfast, she felt everyone's eye's were on her as she pasted. She just tried to look forward. When she reached the dinning hall, Jareth, Terra and Lynnett had just sat down. Lynnett was the first to spot her.

"Oh Sarah, come sit by me! I saved you a seat see?" Lynnett patted the seat next to her and smiled brightly up at Sarah. She made her way over and sat down next to Lynnett. Jareth and Terra sat across from them. She looked at everyone, they were all dressed for the day. Sarah's face went red as she realized she was still in her PJ's. Lynnett seemed to know what Sarah was thinking and giggled. Terra caught Sarah eyeing her slippers.

"Oh that reminds me, there are some cloths on there way to your room right now. I sent a small army it seemed of tailors this morning, most of your wardrobe should be there when you go back," Terra said thoughtfully.

"Thanks," Sarah said. She still felt pretty dumb though, and a little out of place.

Breakfast was served as trays and trays of food were brought out. Sarah eyed most everything she tried suspiciously. It was far from Aboveground food. Terra told her she could try to ask the cook to make a few dishes from Aobveground, but that was a loosing battle. The chef couldn't make heads or tails of anything of that nature.

After they were all done eating, Sarah left to go back to her room. Terra went with her and helped her pick out an outfit for the day. It was still a stormy mess outside, but Sarah had no intention of going out in that weather. Sarah ended up wearing a long dress of a deep violet. As with all the other dresses in her new wardrobe, they were embroidered in elaborate swirls and designs and so on. She let her hair fall free.

"Funny, when I was a little girl I used to dress up in costumes like this and pretend I was a princess and I really felt like one, but now, I am wearing real princess like cloths, and I sure don't fell like anything special," Said said aloud. Terra smiled at her.

"Well you sure look like one, so don't argue," Terra said with a fake authoritative voice. Both girls lightly laughed. Terra left the room long enough to bring a box back with her. She opened it and started pulling thing out of it. Things from Aboveground. She asked Sarah what each on was and what it was for, writing in all down in a book as Sarah told her. Sarah smiled to herself, it was funny to see someone so interested in simple things. Well they were simple to Sarah at least. She had things like a battery, a CD, an empty bottle of Windex, headphones and countless other objects they didn't have here Underground.

A knock on the door interrupted them. Sarah went over and opened the door. Jareth stood before her.

"I hope I'm not interrupting, but I was wondering if you had anything particularly planed for today?" Jareth asked Sarah. Sarah looked back at Jareth's sister for an answer. Terra just shrugged at her.

"I don't think so," Sarah said, unsure of what else to say to him.

"Well, if you have nothing better to do, I thought maybe you would like to see a few things here that Lynnett may have failed to take you to see?" Jareth said in a friendly tone. He wore, what she gathered, was his everyday like outfits. A dark grey poets shirt, with his form fitting black pants, and knee high boots. Sarah wanted to go, her discomfort with being here has vanished it seemed. And she was a little bit eager to know Jareth better.

"You might as well Sarah, I fear I have a list of things to do today. And Lynnie has a friend over now I believe," Terra piped in.

"Well, ok then," Sarah agreed as Jareth led her down the hall. He told her about different painting and such that decorated the halls as they walked though them. Soon they cam to a door at the very end of the hall. He opened it and it just showed a stairwell going down. Sarah seemed a little hesitant, but Jareth grabbed her hand and led her downstairs.

"Come, it's just a set of steps," He told her, though he couldn't blame her, the steps down to the cellars were a bit on the dark side. He recalled countless time that Lynnett had called on him to walk down the steps first or to hold her hand. Once they had descended the steps, Jareth opened another door to his right.

It was very warm for a cellar Sarah thought. It wasn't hot, just a very comfortable temperature. Jareth bidded Sarah to follow him though the door he had opened. She now knew why it was so warm down here, it seemed to be a barn of sorts, stales lining the sides. Hay was bailed up all around.

"I thought you might like to see the horses, we keep them here during the winter. Its far too cold for them in the outside barn," Jareth added. He walked over to a stall and pushed aside a sliding door. He turned to Sarah who was just standing there watching him.

"Come," He said lightly, walking inside. Sarah followed and her jaw dropped at what she saw.

"This is a horse?" She asked in awe. This was no normal horse. It's body shape was the same as the kind of horse Sarah knew, but much more muscular, and a bit bigger. Its color was a beautiful grey. It seemed to have paws, more so then hooves. It's hair was a little thicker then that of a normal horse. It's mouth was also a bit more muzzled shape. It's main was sleek and shiny. The only was Sarah could seem to compare it to was a horse with wolf genes on steroids.

"You like her?" Jareth asked with a smug look on his face. He walked over and patted the horse on it side, It turned and acknowledged Jareth was there. It saw Sarah and stepped forward towards her. Sarah took an unwilling step back.

"It's alright, you just smell different to her, she just wants to know what you are," Jareth walked away from the 'horse' and over to Sarah. He took her hand in his own and brought her over the the beast. Jareth raised Sarah's hand and rested it on the main of the animal. He let go and Sarah ran her hand over the smooth hair of the horse. It turned and lowered it's head to Sarah's level. It seemed to make eye contact with her and stared. It glanced between her and Jareth. After a moment, it pushed its nose into Sarah's shoulder, slightly leaning it head against her. Sarah let out the breath she had been holding and reached up to pet the animal with both hands.

"Heh, She acts like a big dog," Sarah said now smiling.

"Her name is Nessy, She was a gift from my parents a few years ago," Jareth commented. Sarah smiled, and continued petting the gentle beast.

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The next few weeks went on with the same old schedule. They all ate breakfast together, Then Lynnett would claim Sarah for the biggest part of the day, and Terra would end up joining them at some point. Then Jareth always met up with Sarah towards the evening. They sometimes went to the library, or to the barn, or just walked around. All the servants and everyone else for that matter were familiar with Sarah, and she was treated like Terra, Lynnett or Jareth were. Lynnett had also started a tradition with Sarah. Lynnett pleaded every night for Sarah to read her a story before she went to bed. Sarah did so willingly. It reminded her of how she used to read to Toby, So it comforted her in a way.

This night was no different and Sarah started reading out loud to Lynnett, She sat at the foot of the bed while Lynnett was tucked away warmly under the covers. Jareth sat in a chair a few feet away, offen joining in to listen to the stories Sarah read.

"...And just as she thought there was no last sign of hope, someone appeared from the darkness..." Sarah read on to Lynnett, changing the pitch of her voice to imitate the speech of a character. Captivating Lynnetts attetion, her eye's gleamed.

Jareth had been seeing the change in Sarah, everyday since she had been here. She seemed completly comfortable at this being her home now. She no longer asked politely what she could and couldn't do. She knew she was welcome to anything she wanted. She had even seemed more relaxed around him. They offen exchanged stories of when they were children, or Sarah would show him games she played Aboveground. Tonight she promised to teach him how to play 'Go Fish'. He waited patianly for Sarah to finsh her reading.

"...Then suddenly the man swooped in and-" Sarah stopped and looked up to see Lynnett's eye's closed solftly. She snored lightly.

"Heh, night Lynnie," She whispered, and carefuly got off the bed. She placed the book on a nightstand, and her and Jareth crept quietly out of the room.

"Guess she will have to hear the end tommor night," Sarah said once the door was shut.

"Yes, I sppouse so. Now about this 'Fishing' game, how do you play? I'm sure you wouldnt want to try and catch anything out of these waters, most anything is bigger then you and-" Sarah shook her head, keeping Jareth from going on.

"No no no. It's a card game," She exsplained as the walked down the hall into on of the study rooms. Sarah pulled out a small stack of make shift cards. She had hand written all the numbers and drew all the symbols on the cards. "I made these up this morning."

She pulled a chair around to the other side of the desk, Jareth sat across from her. She laid the cards on the table.

"Now, it's kinda hard to play with only two people, but we can give it a try," Sarah told him. It seemed Sarah spoke too soon.

"Two players for what?" Terra poked her head around the corner and stepped into the room.

"We are going to play 'Going Fishing', Sarah says she used to play this all the time,"Jareth informed his sister, turning to her.

"He mean's 'Go Fish'. Would you like to play to Terra? It's better of you have more then two players," Sarah gestured to the side of the desk. Terra grabbed a chair and joined them.

"So where are the fish?" Terra asked, looking around skepitcaly. Sarah smacked her hand to her forehead. They were going to turn a simple card game into something more difficult then solving the Labyrinth all over again.

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After Sarah gave them the rundown, and after a few re-do's, they finaly had the game down. Almost all the cards were gone and it was Sarah's turn.

"Jareth, do you have a Queen?" Sarah asked. Jareth started to open his mouth to speak, but intsed, he just nodded once, and threw down his card on the table. Sarah picked the card up, but looked at Jareths face. Something flashed in his eye's. Sarah couldn't say what it was though. His eye's seemed to fog for a moment, then snapped back up to look at Sarah. She held his uneasy gaze for a moment before turning away.

"Alright, now everyone count up your matches, remeber who ever has the most wins."

Terra ending up winning by two matches. Sarah and Jareth tied.

"Oh that was so much fun! I think I'll teach it to Lynnett in the morning," Terra said beaming from her victory.

"You only like it because you won,"Jareth said to his sister,

"Aw come one Jareth, don;t be such a sore loser!" Terra stuck her toung out at him childishly.

'Ah, sibling rivalery...' Sarah thought.

"I am not a sore loser, you cheated," He replied flatly.

"Cheat?!" Terra raised her voice. "How ever did I cheat?! I learned this game the same tim as you."

Jareth looked at her with raised eyebrows.

"You saw my cards, you dropped your hair clip on pourpose and when you leaned over to pick it up, you looked at my cards."

"Your supposed to be the Older brother," Terra emphisized on the word 'older.' "And here you are being a big baby over a silly game." Terra smiled smuggly and got up. "I fear sleep is calling my name, and I am going to bed. Goodnight Sarah that was such a fun game! Oh, and goodnight my sore loser of a brother," Terra said playfuly as she flicked Jareth's ear as she walked by him.

"I swear sometime she-" Jareth stopped mid-sentence, as Sarah started laughing. He relized them how serious he acted over this game, and couldn't fight the smile that took over his lips. Soon he joined in with Sarah's laughter.

"Aheh, you were kinda being a sore loser," Sarah said with a big grin on her face.

"Yes, well..." Jareth couldn't find an exscuse, so he just smiled and shrugged at her.

They cleaned up the cards and Sarah stowed them away in the desk.

"Ya know it's funny the story Lynnett picked out for m to read tonight, It's really close to a story I used to read to myself when I was little. She fell asleep at the best part," Sarah told him, sitting back down in the chair. Jareth pondered her words for a moment.

"Maybe you would like to finish readin it tonight then?" He said it more as a statement then a qestion. He ficked his writs, a crsytal appearing in his hands. He set it on the desk, and tapped it once. Sarah watched as the clear orb morphed into no other then the book she was reading to Lynnett. Jareth gently pushed the book twords her.

"I'd like to hear the end too." He sat back and got comfortable in his chair. He looked at Sarah exsectanly.

Sarah felt something spark in her mind at his mild boldness. She looked down at the book and bacl at Jareth who incliend his head twords her. She gingerly picked up the book and flipped the pages to were she had left off. She let herslef one more glance at him before settling herslef into the chair. She quickly cleared her throught, and began to read...

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"...And they lived happily ever after." Sarah closed the book with a light thud, and looked up at Jareth who was watching her intently. She ignored him and set the book down on the desk. She stood up and streached lightly.

"I liked that story," Jareth said, stading with her. They walked out and down the hall, continuing there conversation, Jareth escorting Sarah back to her room. "The princess got what she was looking for all along."

"Yes, it's such a happy ending, for pretty much everyone. I wish things were that easily in real life," Sarah said thoughtfuly. By this time they had reached her room. Sarah turned to bid him goodnight.

"Sometimes they can be," Jareth said quietly, answering her remark from a moment ago. Sarah looked at him qestionably. He took a step forward, bringing a hand to Sarah's face. He lighty traced her face from her temple to her chin, letting his fingers rest under them.

Sarah looked up at him. She wasn't sure why she was remaing still. His touch had sent goosebums down her spine, but in a good way. Jareth slowly tilted her chin upwards and his lips gently claimed hers for a brief moment. Her eye lids fluttered down. It took everything in Sarah's power not to push herslef into him and to wrap her arms around his neck. Too soon, let pulled back and dropped his hand, taking in her reaction. He face seemed a little flushed, her eye's glazed a bit.

"Goodnight, My Lady," He, once again, bowed lighty and walked down the hall.

Sarah went into her room and solftly closed the door. She changed quickly and climbed into bed. She brought her hand up to were Jareth's lips had been only moments ago. She smiled to herself. Something about that one little kiss did it for her. She knew how Jareth felt about her, she could see it in her eye's. And now maybe, just maybe, she would start feeling the same way.

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"ARRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!" The piercing scream echoed though the room. Colleen threw a crystal sphere hard against her wall causing it to shatter into millsions of little pieces. She had been keeping an eye on Sarah ever since she had heard of her being there. Even more so after her father told her about the deal he had stuck with Jareth's father. No one would stand in her way of getting Jareth. Ecspecaily not a human.

Colleen flung herslef on her bed and looked up at her cieling in anger.

"You will marry me Jareth! I will see to it that I am your Queen, Me and no other. I'll do whatever I have to.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Hope you all liked.

The Horse thing is for Emmy, They are creatures she draws all over my stuff. 3

I Promise the rated M stuffs will be comming up soon! Please read and review my lovies! 3


	6. Snowball Fights

Thanks very much to people like JAZZIES-GIRL, notwritten, Alexandraya,babygames1,LoveLiberty ,JoyMichelle and all the other people that have reveiwed, commented, and/or added this story to your favorites list and Me to your story watch. It means a lot everyone!

You all keep me writing 3

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The next morning Terra and Lynnett continued rambling on about something or rather, but Jareth's mind was elsewhere. Jareth watched Sarah intently at breakfast. She didn't once looked him in the eye, he did catch her a few times though, looking at him when she though he wasn't. Jareth just couldn't help himself. He was surprised his restraint was as well as it was. He didn't want to be too persistent with her, but now her feared he may not be able to help it.

"Did you hear me brother?" Lynnett said waving her hand in front of him.

"Hm?" Jareth snapped out of his thoughts to answer his younger sister.

"I said, the weather let up, there is a ton of snow on the ground. Sis and I were going to go out for a little while today. Do you want to come to?" Lynnett gave him puppy dog eyes.

"I think not, I have some other things I have to do today," He replied smoothly.

"What about you Sarah? We can have one of those snowball fights you talked about," Terra asked, leaning over the table.

Sometimes Terra was as easily exited as Lynnett.

""Sure all right," She said. Sarah loved the snow back home, they never got quiet this much, but the more the merrier right?

"Yay! Let's go get ready!" Lynnett yelled, pushing herself away from the table, and ran out the door calling for them to hurry up. Terra took one last bite of her food, and followed at a fast walk. She stood and started towards the door. She turned to look at Jareth. Did he think he as too old for a snowball fight? Surely he liked playing in the snow when he was little. She almost wondered if he was going to avoid her today. Sarah opened her mouth before she could stop herself.

"Are you sure you don't want to come? It'll be a lot of fun," She smiled softly. Jareth looked up at her, half way surprised she wanted him to go. He used to play outside in this weather all the time when he was a child. It had been on of his favorite things to do.

"I may," He answered simply, wanting to see of she would press it further. She didn't though, she just simply nodded and walked out of the room. Jareth smiled and turned back to his breakfast.

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"Like this Sarah?" Lynnett asked, patting the top of her snow fort down. Each of them had started a mound of snow a few yards from each other. Sarah had told them about how she made snow forts for snowball fights with Toby, and they insisted they do the same now.

"Yep, you got it Lynnie," Sarah told her, returning to her own 'fort.' She packed more and more snow to build it up around her waist height. The snow here was unbelievable how much they got. There must have been a few feet at least. Soon everyone started making snow balls and stocked them behind there own forts. Once it looked like Sarah had a good pile she looked the two sisters.

"Ready everyone?" She asked, Terra and Lynnett poked their heads out from there walls.

"Yes, but you never told us how you win," Terra tilted her head. Sarah picked up a snow ball and aimed.

"There is no winner, you just, play!" Sarah threw the snowball straight at Terra, it smacked into her shoulder and busted. One hit Sarah in the back and she looked to See Lynnett throwing them wildly. She laughed as the snowballs flew everywhere.

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Jareth looked out his window into the court yard. He had kept an eye on the girls for most of the morning. He now saw the snowball fight in full effect. They all looked to be enjoying themselves very much. He kind of wished he would have taken up on their offer at breakfast. He watched as the ducked behind the make shift forts, and threw snowballs blindly. His inner child was tugging at his mind. He smirked to himself and opened the door onto his balcony. He scoped up a handful of snow off the ledge and packed it into a tight ball. He deliberated lightly as his target. He gave the snowball in his hands one more look, then with incredible aim, let it loose.

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Sarah was ran out of ammo, as did the other girls. She stood up exposing herself from the protection of the fort.

"all right, lets take 5 minutes to restock? Then we can g-" a snowball busting right smack on the top of her head, cut her off. Lynnett giggled out loud.

"Nice shot Terra."

"I didn't throw it, I'm out," She told Sarah. She held her hands out as proof. Sarah cast a glance back at Lynnett who was still giggling.

"It wasn't me..." Lynnett told Sarah as her eye's drifted up to one of the castle balconies.

Jareth had his elbows resting on the ledge and his chin resting in his hands. He raised his eyebrows.

"Well don't look at me," He said sarcastically, turning one of his hands over. A snowball came whizzing by his head.

"Come down here you big cheater!" Sarah yelled playfully.

"Yeah!" Terra shouted as well.

Jareth nodded and walked back into his room. His pulled on a heavier long coat, gloves and a scarf. He mad his way downstairs and opened the door. He walked along the footprints of the girls and turned the corner to the court yard.

SMACK.

A snowball smashed flat into his face, he wiped his face off only to be hit by more snow. All three of them had him surrounded, throwing snow wildly.

"Stop!" He yelled, but they continued. After a minuet or two, they ran out. Jareth looked up with mock anger on his face. He bent down to grab some snow and ran towards them. They all shrieked and ran in different directions. Jareth kept up, hitting them back. Lynnett ducked behind on the the statues in the yard and Jareth ran past her. Terra hid behind a pillar by the doorway, Sarah ran around a tree and leaned back against it listening.

"I beat everyone at this game when I were 9 and I'll win again," Jareth stated, as he stalked around the court yard slowly, waiting for someone to move. He was a good 50 feet away from where Sarah was. Sarah looked over to Terra who waved her towards her. Lynnett was already with her, they were by the door to the house. Sarah peeked around the tree to see where Jareth was. He had his back turned to her. She looked at Terra again who nodded for her to run. She glanced at Jareth once more and bolted over to Terra and Lynnett. The girls quietly as they made their way further from Jareth. They headed for the Tree thicket right before the woods. The trees here were huge in diameter. Some as wide as a small backyard pool. Lynnett's laughter gave them away, Jareth turned his glaze automatically locked onto them and he took off for them at an inhuman speed.

They all scattered, hiding behind different trees. Jareth slowed his pace as he drew closer. Sarah had lost sight of Terra and Lynnett, they had gone into the trees deeper then her, they were faster. Sarah held her breath for a moment. She didn't see which way Jareth had gone. After a moment she worked up the courage to take a peek. She slowly rounded the edge of the tree and saw no one. She pulled her eyebrows together in frustration.

"Where did you go..." She mumbled to herself, taking another step out into the opening.

"I found you. You loose," A voice quickly whispered in her ear. Sarah turned and jumped, stumbling. She felt herself falling backwards, so she grabbed for anything with in her reach to hold her up. Involuntarily, the only thing her hands found was Jareths scarf. She tumbled to the ground pulling Jareth with her.

"Ow..." muttered with her eyes shut. She hit her head lightly, just enough so she might have a headache later. She felt something else on her, pushing her deeper into the snow. She opened her eyes.

"Even if you cant keep your balance, you loose," Jareth smirked down at her. Sarah's face turned scarlet, Jareth was sprawled on top of her. He shifted to put his weight on his elbows, still on top of her. His gaze made her want to just lay there, but that may not be the best idea.

"You scared me, thats cheating," Sarah lightly protested, she raised her hand to rub the back of her head. "Thats foul play."

"Foul play?" He asked innocently, looking down at their position and then back up to her. "Interesting choice of words..."

Sarah's already flushed face, deepened in red. Jareth picked himself off the ground and offered her a hand. She took and and he pulled her to a stand with little effort. She brushed some of the snow off her cloths.

"Alright, come out guys, I lost," Sarah said flatly. Terra and Lynnett emerged from the tress with smiles.

"You did kinda cheat brother," Terra told him.

"I can't help it if she spooks easily," He smiled. The wind picked up, sweeping his hair wildly in every direction. They all looked up at the white sky that was growing darker. The snow started to fall heavier.

"I believe its best we go in now, it looks like the weather might pick back up," Jareth said, nodding for them to head towards the castle.

"Yeah, I want to go in and get some hot coco!" Lynnett beamed, running ahead, pulling Terra with her.

"You have hot Chocolate here?" Sarah asked Jareth, it seemed they didn't have much of anything close to Aboveground anything,

"Yes, as a matter of fact we do, it's almost identical to what you have up there," He cast his eye upwards for a moment. They made it to the house, by the door were a pile of wet jackets, gloves, hats, ect. Terra and Lynnett seemed to have already made there way to get something hot to drink. Jareth Shrugged out of his jacket and such, added thing to the pile. Sarah fought with a button on her jacket, Jareth watched for a moment before pushing her hands out of the way.

"Allow me," He said simply. His hand seemed to glaze over the button, undoing it,

"Thanks," Sarah said unsteadily. She threw her hat a gloves down as well, then stepped out of her boots. Sarah headed towards the kitchen.

"Sarah, they are more then likely in the drawing room,"Jareth told her. She turned around to follow him.

"I thought you had things to do today?" She questioned him lightly.

"Well you all made it look like so much fun, I couldn't help myself," He responded. He gave Sarah a knowing glance "Plus I had much more fun out in the snow then I would sitting at a desk."

Jareth opened the door to the drawing room. A dim light glowed from the large fireplace where his sisters were sitting, cups of steaming hot chocolate in their hands. They walked in and sat down by the fire as well, there was a try to two more cups on it, Sarah and Jareth took theirs.

"That was so much fun, we should do it more often Sarah," Terra told her. Sarah leaned closer to the fire shivering.

"Yeah, definitely," She agreed. They all continued talking about this and that. A few small goblins came in an hour or so later with some dinner treys. They all ate by the fire that night. Jareth couldn't help but notice Sarah inching closer to the fire every few minuets. Lynnett had fell sleep against a cushion.

"Guess Ill put her to bed,"Terra said stretching."And I just might do that myself." She easily picked Lynnett up. "Good night everyone."

"Night," Sarah yawned. She took another sip of her drink. Terra walked out carrying her sister, the door closing noiselessly behind her. After a moment or so of silence, Jareth spoke up,

"So how do you like your drink?"

"It's wonderful, its even better then what I had back home," Sarah said, taking anther drink. She leaned back against the soft cushion on the floor. Jareth was truly flawless looking, Sarah though to herself. The fire was the only light in room, it glowed softly against his skin. It defined his face well. His slim nose, high cheek bones, the light reflecting off his mismatched eyes. Sarah much have been staring longer then she should of because Jareth took notice.

"Something the matter Sarah?" He asked quirking an eyebrow.

She sat her drink down to break her gaze on him.

"No, nothing," She replied quickly. Her face lightly scrunched up as she sneezed. Twice.

"Are you alright?" Jareth asked getting up and walking past her. Sarah didn't turn her head to see what he was doing.

"I'm fine,"She sniffed. "Maybe I just stayed outside too long today." She felt a warm fur blanket being draped over her shoulders. Jareth knelt down behind her, rubbing his hands over her shoulders, trying to warm her up.

"Well our winters are a bit cooler here, We are accustom to it, where as you, aren't," He explained mildly. Sarah closed her eyes in relaxation. He was such a gentleman. She didn't feel the tension she had felt around him her first few days here. She was settled in, though she missed her family dearly. But how was she feeling about Jareth? They had became very good friends it seemed. But ever since he had kissed her, thats all she could think about.

Sarah felt his lips at her ear.

"Tired?" He asked in a low voice. A light flush came onto Sarah's face.

"A little, I guess," Her voice was a bit sluggish. Jareth chuckled to himself. He pulled the cushion out of behind Sarah and place it behind him. His arms snaked around Sarah's waiste, pulling her softly against his chest as he laid back against the cushion.

Sarah was too tired to argue or fight back. She kind of didn't want to anyways, with the fur blanket and his arms wrapped around her she was warm. Her nose felt stuffed up though, and her head had begun to hurt. She also continued sneezing every few minuets. It sounded like Jareth was asking her something, but she couldn't focus. Her eyelids grew heavy, and sleep was creeping up on her fast. It sounded like Jareth was talking inside a bubble. She thought she better get up and go to her room, but sleep won the battle.

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The next morning Sarah peeked one of her eyes open. She was in her bed, wrapped snuggly into her blankets. The last thing she remembered was talking to Jareth in the drawing room. She guessed he had carried her here. Her head hurt, and she couldn't breath out of her nose. She looked out the window, the sun was up and light flooded the room. With a deep sigh, she sat up stretching her arms over her head. She felt sluggish, heavy. She cast a glance at the huge clock that hung on the wall.

"It's 13:41!" She groaned out loud. Why hadn't anyone come and woken her up? She flung the covers off her and swung her legs over the side of the bed. As soon as she tried to stand up, her legs gave way causing her to slump back onto the bed.

"I wouldn't advise getting up just yet," Jareth was standing in her doorway with a trey.

"Why didn't anyone come and wake me up? I hate sleeping in so late," Sarah asked, leaning back against the headboard.

"Well, I believe you got sick mildly, from being outside for so long. You might as well stay in bed all day. You'll get better faster if you are resting," Jareth said with a tiny bit of authority hidden among his words. Just enough that Sarah wouldn't fight it, too much.

"But I really don't want to lay here all day," Sarah protested mildly. Jareth set the trey down in front of her. Her favorite food were laid out.

"Well it's for the best, and don't worry I'll be here to keep you company all day.

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Sarah and Jareth carried on a light conversation most of the day. She took a short cat nap around the middle of the day, and woke to find Jareth still sitting in the same chair, a book in his hands. Sarah must have been starring at him again, because he raised his eyebrows and inclined his head towards her, as if mildly asking 'what'. A knock on the door kept Sarah from having to answer his unspoken question.

"Can I come in?" Terra asked as if she needed permission. The stepped in the doorway with Lynnett on her heels. She looked to be wearing a much more elegant dress then usual. Her hair was done up a little neater, she seemed to be wearing make-up. She also had on a thick long coat, that matched the rest of her ensemble. Lynnett was dressed the same as as well.

"I hate to rush out while you are sick Sarah," She started apologetically, "But Mother and Father have summoned us to their castle, it's just a meeting type thing. It's more or less just a formality that we are there."

"Oh, how long will you be gone?" Sarah didn't like the thought of being left alone here. She wouldn't know what do to really.

"Just a few days is all. Everything is still at your disposle don't worry," Terra smiled cheerfully.

"Are you sure your not coming brother?" Lynnett peeked out from around Terra's skirts. Sarah looked over at Jareth who avoided eye contact with her.

Jareth hadn't really wanted to say outloud in front of Sarah that he wasn't going. But this was valuable time he would get to spend with her over the next few days. Maybe even persuade her to accept him a bit more...

"No Lynnie, I'm staying. I really don't need to be there," Jareth said softly to his little sister.

"But Dad says it's important for you to be there since Rozengem fami-" Lynnett was cut off.

"Ah there ye are. I was wonderin' where you'd gone off to that fast," Lydia chimed in cheerfully. Sarah hadn't seen much of Lydia since the night at the ball. Apparently Lydia had something to take care of with her family. Ironic. But she arrived back early this morning Jareth had told her.

"We were just now coming down Lydia, just saying bye to Sarah," Terra told her pushing Lynnett out the door.

"And how are ya' feelin' Miss Sarah?" Lydia turned her attention to her.

"I'm alright, just a little tired I guess,"Sarah replied sighing.

"Well rest yer' self up and I'll be in later to check on ye," Lydia beamed.

"We'll see you in a few days Sarah," Lynnett called out, Terra adding a goodbye as well.

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A few hours later, Sarah was up and about. She really wanted a hot bath after laying around in bed all day. Jareth left her to it. Sarah opened the door to her bathroom. She still couldn't get over how immaculate everything here was. The bathroom itself was the size of her bedroom back home. The walls were all mirrors, and the tub and vanity's were silver. She let the steaming water fill the tub. She shrugged herself out of her clothes and slowly stepped in.

She was feeling much better, though some thoughts in the back of her head seemed to start buzzing. She knew Jareth had brought her to her room last night. She also couldn't help but notice this morning she was changed into her nightgown. She want to ask Jareth but she just assumed he had put her in it. This made her face bright red. Her love life left her with little experience in anything with guys. At most she had only kissed a few guys. None of them had really caught her attention. Nor had she really dated a guy any length of time.

After scrubbing herself down and giving her hair a good wash, she stepped out of wrapped herself in a towel.

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Jareth sat at his desk, catching up on some work he had neglected all day. Suddenly a brown owl swept though this window landing on his desk. It stared up at him with big dark eyes.

"Hello there,"Jareth said in a bored voice. The owl hooted softly and shook its leg, a scroll tied to it.

"Hm, what this..." Jareth mumbled to himself. His slender fingers untied the bow easily and he unrolled the paper. The owl hooted again and took off out the window. The note read:

Jareth,

Your sisters informed me that you were not coming tonight. I wonder is it because of your guest you all have been keeping hidden in the castle? Well regardless we did want you here to discus a few things, including the mortal girl as well. Everyone was dying to meet her formally. Since you are absent though, Your Father and I will be hosting another ball in 7 days time. We will host it at the Main Castle, so there is no way you can miss it. Everyone is so curious about her, Sarah is her name right? Well Lovely, I will see you there.

Love,

Your Mother.

Jareth pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. Wasn't this a little much. They all will more the likely just overwhelm Sarah. And his mother had said everyone was going to be there, great. They are quiet a few people he'd rather not have there, one in particular.

"Well this should be fun..."Jareth sighed to himself. He might as well go tell Sarah now. He couldn't think of a way to get out of this one. He walked out of the room and down a few hall's to Sarah's room. He knocked lightly on the door.

"Come in,"Sarah called softly. Jareth opened the door and saw her sitting at the vanity, brushing her damp hair. She caught his gaze in the mirror and stood up. Her long silk nightgown swirled around her feet.

"Feeling better?" He asked her conversationally.

"Much,"She said taking a seat at the edge of her bed. Jareth Sat down in the chair across from her.

"Good because this might make you fell ill again," Jareth smiled sympatheticly as he held the scroll out to Sarah. She quirked an eyebrow but took it. She read threw it slowly. She dropped her hands to her lap and looked up at Jareth, her jaw slightly dropped.

"Your kidding me right?" She asked flatly.

"Afraid not dear, You'll be the center of attention."

"Ug, that's not fair," Sarah slumped her shoulders forward scowling. Jareth smiled.

"That may be true but that brings up a few things I think we should go over," Jareth crossed his knees and tapped his boot lightly.

"Like what?"

"Well as you saw a glimpse of from last time, our get together are very formal. Certain people are expected to do certain things and act a certain way. For example, the family hosting the ball eats first, the hosting party always dances the first and last dance at a minimum," He shot a glance at her," They always are presented in couples."

"Yeah I thought I saw that kind of system last time," She replied cooly.

She clearly wasn't getting it.

"Well in this case Sarah, you will be part of the 'hosting' family," Jareth leaned forward slightly waiting for her expression. Her eye's grew a bit wider, her jaw slightly loose again. Before she could say anything Jareth spoke up again.

"So I thought we could go over the 'system' as you call it, so your ready for it hm?" He asked her in a pleasant tone.

Sarah sighed and twirled a piece of her hair in her fingers. Guess there was no way around it. She just hoped she could remember everything. Just like of it like lines for a play, she told herself.

"I guess your right. What should I practice first?

"Well I thought we'd start with the hardest things, and work our way up. Sound good to you?" He stood and crossed his arms, looking at her inquiringly.

"I suppose thats the best way to do it," She replied.

"Good, put on your slippers and follow me," He waved her towards the door. Sarah got out her slippers on and followed him out the door.

"Where are we going?" She asked catching up to him.

"You'll see," He told her, a mild taunting in his voice. They walked down the dimly lit halls, turning corner after corner. Soon Sarah recognized the tall elegant doors leading to where the last ball had taken place. he pushed aside on of the doors and without looking back to her, beckoned her inside. She stepped inside the large ballroom, which was completely dark until the grand chandler over head sparked to life with a flick of the wrist from Jareth. He walked over to something that seemed to be equivalent to a record player. He quickly turned a few knobs and pulled a lever and soft music began to echo throughout the room. The room was still very dim, but clear enough to see. He walked over to her and pulled her away from the doorway. He slid an arm around her waiste and pulled her firmly against him. His free hand found hers and he laced his fingers though it, pulling their hands up to her eye level. Sarah stiffed a gasp at there sudden intament hold. She could feel his slender hand pressed into the small of her back, smell his intoxicating sent, She felt his breath on her face.

Jareth smiled and whispered low in her ear,

"I thought we could start with some dancing?"

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Sorry I didn't most anything for a few days, but I didn't get to many reviews, So I didn't rush myself too much. The next chappy is almost ready to go guys! Just make sure you tell me what you think of this one!


	7. Colleen

Somebody Still Loves You

Chapter Eight

Colleen

"Dancing?" She asked her voice a bit shaky "Why dancing?"

Jareth kept his hold on Sarah, the music slightly swirling around them.

"Well, I believe you agreed to working on the most difficult things first, many of the dances are choreographed to a point, at least the formal ones. I'm sure you don't know them, and that seems much harder than anything else on the list," He answered in a matter of fact tone.

"I guess you're right," Sarah let out with a sigh, it couldn't be too bad right? "But I am going to warn you, I'm a horrible dancer and you might want to consider steel toe shoes." Jareth mildly laughed at her self-doubt.

"It may be easier then you think."

Sarah placed her free hand on Jareth's shoulder, assuming that was the correct pose she was supposed to be in. Jareth then explained to her the basic beat of the music, and the first few steps, demonstrating them by gently nudging her feet in the direction they were supposed to go in. They went over this a few times, Sarah slowly picking it up. He really only corrected her once, telling her not to look at her feet.

"That's really all the opening dance is, repeated several times," He told her loosening his grip on her. "Think you want to try it with the tempo of the music now?"

"That's it? Really?" Sarah asked a bit surprised. She had it in her mind that it was going to be so much harder, and that she would stumble everywhere.

"That's it," He confirmed taking his hold on her once again. "So let's give it a try, hm?" Sarah silently agreed by taking her stance with him once again. They waited for the beat to repeat itself and then stepped into the tempo. Sarah locked her eyes with Jareth's, determined not to break the rhythm. They whirled around the room pretty much effortlessly. They had each other's sways and turns down so naturally. Even though they had repeated the dance pattern enough and Sarah surely had it down, they continued dancing on, until the song was over. The music slowed to a faded stop, leaving the two of them standing there in each other's arms. Things had just seemed too easy for Sarah ever since she got here. Homesickness was nowhere to speak of, and though things were different, the only thing that she felt was missing was her family. But she almost felt as if everyone here was her family too. Lynnett and Terra were like the sisters she never had, Lydia was like that fun loving aunt that visited frequently, and Jareth.

Well, what was he? Ever so slowly, she found she longed for his company. The few times Sarah found herself alone, Jareth was the first person to pop into her mind. She didn't feel uncomfortable under his stare. But how did she feel about him? How did he exactly feel about her? She found herself not sure what to tell her subconscious.

Jareth began explaining the next dance, but Sarah was only half listening. Her mind was occupied on the questions that she had formed.

"Sarah?"

She wanted to know what was there, what she wanted.

"Sarah?"

Why it seemed too natural around her.

"Sarah!"

Jareth voice snapped her out of the thoughts. He was staring at her with his face in a curious expression.

"I'm sorry, what was that last step again?" She replied quickly. Jareth seemed to be pondering whether to pursue her daydreaming. After a moment though, he appeared to let it go, and repeated the step.

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Lydia had finished her work a bit late tonight. She had almost forgotten about checking up on Sarah. So she decided to pay Sarah a visit before heading off to bed, though she might already be asleep. She strolled down the hall, inspecting the cleaning crews work as she went. Soon she thought she heard music playing quietly somewhere. If the home wasn't so silent at this hour, she might not have heard it at all. It was getting pretty late, so she wondered who it was. Instead of turning down the hall to Sarah's room, Lydia followed the sound of the soft music. It got louder the further she went. Her eyes soon locked on the Ballroom doors. One was just slightly ajar, so Lydia tip toed over to take a peek. She strained her eyes to peer across the room at the two figures dancing to the music. Jareth was easily identified. Once they turned slightly, Lydia saw it was no other then Sarah in Jareth's hold. She dared not look on too much longer for the sake of looking like she was spying. Which she kind of was, she supposed. Lydia hurried down the hall into her room to send a message to Terra.

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"See, you've done very good for never even knowing these dances before," Jareth complemented her. They had gone over a few more songs and she had seemed to pick them up quickly without too much trouble.

"I guess so," Sarah said as she stiffened a yawn. Jareth glanced over at the clock that hung on the wall. It was well into the night, and they had made more than enough progress tonight.

"I say it's time you head to bed, hm?" It was more a statement then a question. Sarah nodded sheepishly and he escorted her out of the ballroom, waving his hand as the music faded off and the candles blew out. They slowly walked down the halls, Sarah's mind still buzzing with her unanswered questions.

"So you said that everyone is presented in couples? Who's with who?" Sarah asked him glancing over.

"Well, my mother and father obviously, Then Terra is with someone different almost every time. Since she is not yet married or engaged in any relationship, our parents pick one of the sons from another ruling family to try and win her over. She's very picky," He lightly laughed to himself. "Lynnett is too young, so she is an exception to the pairing rule."

"How old is Lynnett exactly?" She asked. That question had popped up in her mind a few times, but she had just never asked.

"She is technically eighty seven years old," He looked at her face for a reaction.

"Eighty seven? How does that work out?" Sarah had stopped walking to turn and face him. That had caught her off guard.

"She is 87 here, but Aboveground, she would be the equivalence of a eight, almost nine year old." He saw Sarah was still at a bit of a loss, so he continued. "You see, we as Fae's are immortal yes, but we do age to a point. We age until we marry, once we find the person we are to spend the rest of our life with, the aging process stops. Lynnett is only a child, and there is some time before she has to worry about that. She does still age, I believe it works out to be around one year of aging for every ten that go by."

Sarah took all this in and it made sense after she thought it over again. The continued down the hall before Sarah spoke up again.

"So how old does that make Terra? And you?"

"Terra is one hundred and ninety two, making her around nineteen, and I am two hundred and twenty, so around twenty two on your calendar," He answered mildly.

"Oh I see," Sarah added. "But you never answered my first question completely." By this time they were outside Sarah's door, she leaned her back against the wall.

"And what question was that?"

"Who's paired with who?" She asked again, he knew she meant who was he paired with. He had skipped over himself when answering her question.

"It depends, normally I am paired up with..." He dismissed that thought from his mind, not wanting to irritate himself. " Well for this upcoming event, it depends on who you are with. You may take anyone you like to escort you, but if you want to be with a familiar face, I would be humbly honored to be your partner."

Sarah's face turned a little pink.

"Well, who else would I go with?" She asked him. "I don't even know anyone else other then whoever is in the castle."

"Still, it is your choice," He replied.

"I would love for you to be my partner," She smiled warmly. "Besides who else would forgive me if I messed up and stepped on their foot?" They both laughed together for a moment. Sarah leaned against her door frame, her door ajar.

"Wonderful. Well, then I will bid you goodnight," He told her nodded his head.

See, there it was again, that little nagging voice in the back on Sarah's mind, that little skip of a heart beat as he turned to leave.

"Jareth," She started as he turned and took a step back towards her. "I really had fun tonight, learning all the dances and such," Once he locked eyes with her, that was the only thing she could think of to say. Just anything really to keep him in her company for a second longer. Before she comprehended what she was doing, she stepped forward and placed a hand on his chest, the eye contact never breaking. She stood up on her toes and presses her lips softly against his. His arms pulled her closer, pressing into the kiss harder. Sarah slipped her hands around his neck automatically, leaning into him. His mouth moved from hers and down to her neck. Jareth stepped forward pressing her back against the wall as he trailed his mouth along her neck. When he reached her collarbone, he smiled against her skin. After a moment, he pulled away to look at her. Sarah's face was flushed and her eyes a bit dreamy. Jareth ran his finger along her chin line.

"Goodnight Sarah," He mumbled. She slipped into her room and Jareth made his way down the hall.

'This is even better' He thought to himself. He intended on just slowly hinting things with Sarah. But for her to act on her own was just all that much better. She had been here for a little over a month now, and time was short. His six month deadline stayed in the back of his mind. Things needed to be going faster than they were, he knew that. But he wasn't too sure how Sarah would react if he were too persistent. Well, maybe he wouldn't have to be. He was at his door when Lydia came around the corner.

"Your Highness," She asked giving a quick curtsy.

"Lydia, what are you doing up and about still?" He asked her.

"Well, ya' see, I was sendin' messages back and forth with Lady Terra, and she gave me some news," Lydia wrung her hands as she spoke. "She informed me that Lady Colleen was not attendin' the meetin' as well and she was on her way here."

"You can't be serious. Why?" He asked irritated.

"I'm not sure why, but she should be here any-" The chime of a door bell interrupted her. Jareth ran his hand over his face and sighed deeply. This was the last thing he needed right now. Without looking up at Lydia he spoke.

"Show her in and send her to the Drawing room," He grumbled. Lydia nodded and headed down the door. With a quick thought, Jareth teleported himself into the Drawing room, sitting himself in the chair behind the desk. He crossed his arms and leaned back heavily into the chair. A few moments later Colleen waltzed into the room like she was walking down a runway.

"Jareth, there you are. How are you this evening?" She purred as she sat in the chair across the desk, crossing her legs.

"Tired. Colleen, not to be rude but what can I do for you? It's an unspeakable hour of the night and I didn't have any notice you were coming," He said flatly. She pushed a piece of hair behind her ear.

"Well I heard that you weren't attending the meeting with everyone else. So I was curious to see why," She leaned her elbow on the desk, resting her chin in her hand. Jareth was unaffected by her gaze. "It's not that little human girl everyone is making a muck about it is?" The venom in her voice was obvious.

"I really don't think it's any of your business," He stood to leave the room. "And if that is all you need then Lydia will escort you back out to your carriage."

"Well I thought I would stay here until the ball. It's a two day trip back home, and since I have to come back in a week anyway what's the point of going all the way home and back?" She asked innocently.

"Why don't you go stay with everyone else at my parent's home, hm?" He suggested heavily.

"Well not everyone can teleport from place to place like you can Jareth, my horses are tired and need to rest," She was good at making excuses. Jareth's patience was running short though, and he really didn't want to deal with her any longer than necessary.

"Fine, you may stay in the guest wing for tonight, you will see yourself out in the morning," He told her, heading towards the door. He paused for a moment and turned back to her.

"And you are to stay in the guest wing only. Is that clear?" His authoritative voice commanded.

"Whatever you say Jareth," She smirked as he left the room.

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The next morning Sarah lazily made her way down to the dining hall. She yawned out loud as she pushed open the dining hall door. Instead of Jareth sitting at the table, there was a young lady. She had fiery red hair that swirled around her shoulders and back, lightly tanned skin, and was more than likely one of the prettiest girls Sarah had ever seen. She would blow any Aboveground model away that's for sure. Her outfit also fit her delicate features. She was dresses in a long elegant dress of a garnet color that cut low on her chest. Her matching necklace, earrings and ring sparkled lightly. She glanced up at Sarah.

"Good morning, you must be Miss Sarah," her siren voice called. Sarah ran her hand over her messy hair trying to smooth it. The girl got up out of her chair and walked over to her.

"Uh yes, Good morning," She stammered out. She hadn't bothered to change out of her pajamas yet, she had run a brush quickly threw her hair, but it was still mused and messy. She felt like a peasant next to this girl. Sarah compared her wrinkled night dress to the one of the other girl. She sighed heavily.

"I'm sorry, let me introduce myself, I am Colleen Rozengem. I am the youngest daughter of King Simon," She curtsied quickly.

"It's nice to meet you," Sarah replied polite, although she still didn't know why they girl was here. Nor was she confident enough to ask, and by the looks of her, Sarah's status was nowhere close enough to ask.

"My, My. You are very pretty for a human," She walked around Sarah in a slow circle, looking her over. Sarah pushed a piece of hair behind her ear.

"Um, thanks" She said a little unsure.

"No wonder everyone is making such a fuss, they can't wait to hear more about you," She told Sarah. "I have heard a few stories on how you got here, maybe you would be so kind as to enlighten me on the true story?"

Sarah quickly summed up the story of how she had gotten here. Her heart gave a slight jerk of pain talking about her home again.

"Very interesting..." Colleen took in the story. "Well I have some things I'd like to get done today, so if you'll excuse me. It's been very nice talking to you," And with that, she walked out the door.

Sarah walked over to the table and sat down, a few goblin servants had come out to clean up the plates from Colleens breakfast. Jareth walked through the door just as they were bringing out more food.

"Good morning, Sarah," He sat down across from her.

"Good morning," She replied. A plate full of food was placed before her. "So what are the plans for today?"

"I thought we could go over the order of how things are done today, I don't want to take up your whole day though," He inquired before he went on. His food was set in front of him as well.

"It's not like I have much of anything else to do," Sarah said around a mouthful. "Terra and Lynnett aren't here so," She shrugged. She took another bite of food before going on. "Oh, I did meet Colleen though."

"Colleen?" He scrunched up his face as though discussed. "I told her to stay in the guest wing."

Sarah was obviously confused at Jareth's reaction to her. She didn't seem all that bad. Well maybe her attitude came off a bit snobbish, but still.

"What's the matter with her? Why is she here anyway?" She probed.

Jareth sighed heavily. Colleen was really the last person he wanted to talk about, especially when it was Sarah here.

"She is a daughter of another ruling king. My parents invited her to stay here until the ball in a few days," He told her quickly.

"I thought it was important that all the members of the ruling family were supposed to attend those 'meetings' you all have?"

Jareth thought carefully before answering.

"It is somewhat important for us to be there," He motioned to himself, and the empty seats where Terra and Lynnett were normally seated. "We are the highest family. But as you can see, there are ways to slink out of it."

"Well how did she get off out it?" Sarah asked not looking up from her plate.

Damn she couldn't just leave it be. Well it wasn't her fault, she was just course.

"She can be very persuasive I am told," He told her. He wasn't lying to her, just wasn't giving her the full story about Colleen and the six month arrangement. Sarah just seemed to raise her eyebrows in agreement and they both finished off breakfast.

"Shall we head to the drawing room?"He asked her, standing up.

"Sure," she agreed cheerfully. "Just let me go change first?" She went quickly to her room. She changed into a simple brown dress. She ran a brush over her hair one more time, smoothing it out better. She stepped out of her room to find Jareth waiting for her.

They made their way done the halls, Sarah occasional running her hand across the banister rails. She was kind of excited about this ball coming up, but nervousness stayed in the back of her mind. She didn't think it would be too much of a problem with Jareth there though. Jareth pushed open the door to the drawing room with the welcoming fire that lit as soon as they entered the room. Jareth sat down the desk and waved another chair over next to his.

"I'll sketch out a set up of the tables and such," He said as they sat down. He pulled out a notebook of sorts and an elegant pen with a 'J' on it out of the desk. He began quickly sketching out and bird's eye view of the ballroom. Sarah leaned in a bit closer to watch.

"Now here is where my family, you, and I will sit" He pointed to the rectangle representing that table. When we are all seated, my father will introduce us all, then the other ruling kings. Once that's done, my father gives a few sentences on why we are all here, our dinner will be served first, then everyone else. That normally takes an hour or maybe a little less. Then the band will strike up something and it is customary for the ruling family to dance, along with anyone else who wishes it," He looked over at her to make sure he had her attention. She met his gaze for a moment before he went on.

"Once that's over, it's pretty much free for the remainder of the night, everyone drinks, dances and mingles. That's probably when everyone will start swarming you. We are really only needed for the last dance as another formality," He slid his finger across the paper and made a circle. "This is the dance floor..." And he pointed out the tables were each family sat. Sarah rested her elbow on the desk and put her chin in her hand.

"I thought you said this was going to be a lot to learn. It doesn't seem too hard," She stated.

When you broke it down her supposed she was right. Ah well. So all they had to really work on was the dancing, and one more thing came to mind.

"We also will ring for Lydia later today, she should be able to work something up for you to wear. Do you have any idea on what style you would like?" He asked her.

"I don't know. I never been very good with picking out things like that," She smooth her hand over her hair. "Isn't there any generic-can't-go-wrong kind of dress?"

Jareth laughed slightly at her. Didn't she have any vanity in her? At least enough to say out loud what looked good on her. Which was really anything in Jareth's eyes.

"I'm sure Lydia can come up with something," He confirmed with her.

Sarah eyed the stack of paper, focusing on the sheet of paper under the one Jareth had just written on. She reached he hand out to pick it up.

"What's this?" She asked. Jareth pulled up the stack of papers and slide them out of her reach.

"What's what?" He asked innocently as she stretched for the paper.

"What's under that paper?" She stood up leaning over him, stretching even further for the paper.

"Nothing," He answered simply, trying his best to keep the papers out of her reach.

"Show me," She demanded lightly. The tips of her fingers caught some of the paper and she pulled, causing the papers to scatter among the floor.

"Sarah..." He groaned. She stood up straight and smiled.

"Sorry?" She apologized. He gave her a fake scolding look. She went around his chair and knelt down to start picking up the papers, as did Jareth. She picked on up and examined it.

"Jareth did you draw these?" She looked over an inked sketch, it was of his family. They all looked a bit younger, maybe by just a few years. It was Jareth's parents, his father's arm around his mother's waist. Terra was standing next to her father, smiling warmly. Jareth was standing next to his mother with Lynnett clung to his back, peeking over his shoulder. It looked like a perfect family portrait. Every detail of everything was completely perfect. Everything was proportioned, a photo wouldn't have even compared.

"Yes, some a while ago," He said over her shoulder. "We don't have 'pictures' like you do Aboveground. The only thing we can do is draw and paint." Sarah picked up a few more. Most were of his family, some of familiar goblin faces from around the castle.

"Jareth these are amazing," She told him.

"Not really, it's just a hobby," He gently shrugged off her complement.

Sarah picked up another, it seemed to be a perfect screen shot of the other day. It was Sarah knelt down behind her makeshift snow fort from the snow ball fight. Terra and Lynnett were in the background, there details not filled in completely. Sarah's were though, the few small pieces of hair that few in her face, the wrinkles of her clothes, he details incredibly defined.

"Hm, I haven't finished that one yet," Jareth said gently taking the paper and adding it to the stack.

"That's still amazing, it looks wonderful, but I don't look like that, it's way too pretty," Sarah handed over the last page.

"I draw what I see, that is what you look like," He put them all back in the draw he had pulled them out of. Sarah just shook her head slightly in disagreement. Jareth stepped close to her and lifted her chin so she looked at him.

"Sarah Williams, you are that pretty whether you like it or not. Stop doubting that, I'm sure I can find more than enough people to agree on this," He leaned his head down to her slowly, his mouth hovering above hers. Suddenly the door flung open and they both straightened themselves.

"Jareth, I was wondering when I would see you today," Colleen studded into the room like a peacock showing off its feathers. "Sarah," she said with false excitement, "Whatever are the two of you up to?" She spoke to Sarah as though she were in injured animal.

"We were going over some things about that Ball," Jareth answered for her. Colleen's eyes lit up at the mention of the ball.

"That's right Jareth. Maybe you could spare a little time today and we could work on what we are going to wear, I need to know what suit you are wearing so the style of my dress can fit with it accordingly and-"

Jareth raised his hand cutting her off.

"I am afraid I already have a partner Colleen," He spoke slowly, letting the words seep into her.

"What?!" She exclaimed. "No you don't! We always attend together!"

"Not by choice," He stated, hoping Sarah would pay attention to that.

"Don't tell me," Her eyes darted to Sarah who instinctively stepped closer to Jareth. The fury in the woman's eyes was inevitable.

"Yes, as a matter of fact. Sarah is my partner, I'm afraid you're going to have to find someone else," He said almost smugly. He put his hand on the small of her back, Colleen fumed at this.

Sarah looked back and forth between the two. Jareth, with a calm smile on his face, and Colleen, who looked as if she were ready to kill. Sarah bit her lower lip. Colleen shot a look at Jareth, and then once more back at Sarah before storming out of the room with an angry growl. Jareth laughed as soon as she was out of sight.

"Jareth what was that about?" Sarah asked the slightest hint of worry on her face. Jareth just shook his head.

"My parents almost always have me go with Colleen. I honestly hate it though, she is the daughter of a king my father knows well so..." He shrugged.

"I don't want to take her dance partner away," Sarah told him, disappointment hidden somewhere along the line. "And she's very pretty."

"Skin deep maybe, but her attitude ruins her. She's fussy and spoilt, her company is almost completely intolerable," He said with frustration. Sarah sighed with relief at hearing him speak so lowly of her. It wasn't like her to think badly of people, but Sarah liked the thought of Jareth rejecting her so deeply. Sarah shrugged the thought of the other woman off and Sat back down at the desk. Why should she be so concerned anyway? It wasn't like Jareth and her were anything special. She glanced up at Jareth who had walked over to a small book shelf, his eyes scanning the spines of the books.

She took the chance to observe him while he wasn't looking. His wild hair, as always, was in wisps around his face, neck and shoulders. He wore a casual poet's shirt, with a long V line that showed off his chest slightly, his same old breeches, outlining him in a devious way. The beat in boots he wore looked as though they were worn for over a life time. In human terms, she wouldn't be surprised if they were that old.

Jareth pulled a book from the shelf, walked over to the desk, and laid it down in front of her. Sarah almost laughed.

"Where did you get this?" She asked surprised, picking up the worn out book of 'Beauty and The Beast'. She smoothed her hand over the cover.

"Terra," He answered, sitting back down beside her. "Her goblins do find the strangest things. She keeps all the books she finds in here."

"I loved this story when I was little," She traced the figures of the characters on the cover with her finger. She remembered reading this story a million times over.

"Read it to me," Jareth leaned back in his chair, putting his feet up on the desk. He folded his arms over his lap and looked at her expectantly.

"Read it to you?" Sarah's answer was a bit delayed. "You've had it here and you have never read it?"

He just shook his head no.

Sarah watched him for a moment to see if he was serious. Apparently he was, his expression not changing. Timidly she opened the book and flipped to the first page. It was different when she read for Lynnett, she was just a little girl. Jareth was normally there to but still, it seemed odd such a person like him would want to be read to. She glanced over once more at him before she spoke in a cool voice.

"Once upon a time there was..."

~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~

"...Beauty ran through the halls of the castle, searching for the Beast, who was nowhere to be found. She turned down the..." Sarah stopped slowly when she heard a soft snore come from the sleeping Jareth.

"Like sister, like brother I guess," She whispered to herself, closing the book. "They never make it to the end of the story." She wasn't too sure of what she should do now. She didn't want to just leave him in here and wake up to see her gone. Then again, she almost didn't want to wake him. He looked so relaxed. Even when awake when he was calm, he still had some type of intriguing expression on his face. While he slept though, he looked completely at ease. His body relaxed his chest slowly rose and fell.

Sarah got the fuzzy feeling again. She knew she was attracted to him, that much was sure. But something else was stirring too. She couldn't tell want, but there was something. Slowly she reached her hand out and brushed a stray piece of hair from his face. She leaned in a little close to him, her finger tracing the outline of his face, his nose, his lips. He had to be attracted to her too right? He showed it, or was that just her imagination. No. Something had to be, she wanted to know, she was so very curious.

Soon Sarah heard footsteps coming down the hall. She pulled away from Jareth and sat back in her seat. She hoped Colleen wasn't coming back in to spit some venom again.

Lydia's head peeked through the door. Her eyes instantly fell on the sleeping King, she waved Sarah over to the door.

"I was comin' up to see if ya' were comin' down for lunch but, " She eyed Jareth again. "I guess not. Also as soon as ya' can, I'd like to take your measurements for ya' dress for the Ball. Nothin' in your wardrobe will do for that occasion." She gave Sarah a warm smile. "Maybe we ought to do that now, while he's sleepin', hm?"

Sarah gave her an uneasy look.

"Oh, he'll be fine," Lydia waved her arm. "Come on now, let's get movin.'"

"Well...all right," Sarah complied, following Lydia down the hall. They soon came to a room Sarah had never been in before. There were clothes of every color and shade about, boxed of thread, needles, buttons and such. Ribbons and gems were organized in some. Manikins were lined up in a row, most with half sewn items of clothing on. Mirrors lined the walls. There were tall wide windows alone the walls as well, letting in a ton of sunlight. It looked like a small fabric shop.

"Wow, Lydia, do you make all of these?" Sarah asked, looking over the finished pieces of work in some of the manikins.

"Indeed I do. Speakin' O' Which.," She flicked her fingers at a box of sewing supply at the feet of a manikins with a partly sewn dress on. "Back to work with ya!"

With the slightest movement of her hand, the needles and thread seemed to ready themselves. They started weaving though the dress and made steady progress stitching things together. Little gems slid up the cloth to attach themselves on. Sarah watched, enchanted by the easy magic. Lydia pulled her up to a full body mirror, pulled measuring tape out of her pocket, and began getting Sarah's measurements.

"So do you have anythin' in mind that you want particularly?" Lyida asked, running the tape down Sarah's arm. Sarah watched their reflections in the mirror as Lydia went back and forth between measuring and writing the numbers down.

"I'm not sure really. Can you just surprise me?" Sarah looked at the other dresses sewing themselves together in the reflection of the mirror.

"If that's what you want Miss," Lydia smiled. "I'm sure I can come up with somethin' or rather." She continued her measuring.

"Lydia, how long have Jareth and Colleen known each other?" Sarah seemed to ask out of the blue. Lydia's hand stopped what they were doing for a moment. She caught Sarah's gaze in the mirror for only a moment. She couldn't lie to her, she let her hands go back to work.

"All his life I believe," She told Sarah quickly. "Why do you ask?"

"Just wondering I guess," That wasn't really what Sarah wanted to hear. Colleen really bothered her. She saw the way she looked at Jareth and didn't like it, not a bit. Lydia must have seen her facial expression change.

"She bothers you that much?" She asked, laughing a bit. A light blush came over Sarah's face.

"A bit..." Sarah mumbled.

Lydia finished up Sarah's measurements shortly after. She told Sarah she would get to work right away, and to go run along. She wanted to start working on the dress immediately. She let herself out of Lydia's homely fabric shop and headed back down the hall into the Drawing room. She slowly walked into the room to find Jareth still slumped back in his chair, sleeping soundly. She wondered why he was so tired. He had been asleep for a little while now, she thought she might as well wake him up. She walked over to his chair and knelt down beside him.

"Jareth?" She whispered. She waited for a moment, he didn't stir. She gently shook his shoulder. "Jareth!"

"Huh, what?" he spat out quickly, his eyes suddenly wide open and alert. His eyes quickly locked on Sarah.

"Morning," She said sarcastically, smiling. He sat up straight, running a hand threw his hair.

"I'm sorry, I fell asleep in the middle of your story," He apologized.

"It's all right, you were just tired," Sarah stood up.

"Well, to make it up to you, what would you like to do for the rest of the evening? Whatever you want," Jareth stood as well facing her. She opened her mouth to answer but suddenly an ear piercing scream came from the hall.

"YOU NASTY LITTLE THING! GET AWAY FROM ME!"

Sarah and Jareth bolted threw the door into the hall where they found Colleen wildly swatting at a few little goblins with a book in her hands. The little creatures seemed to be enjoying this, darting around her laughing. They tugged at the end of her gown, or ran in a circle around her. Her movements just slow enough to miss them.

Sarah covered the smile on her face with her hand.

"Jareth! A little help here!" Colleen demanded, red faced with anger. Jareth looked over the scene once more, stalling the moment. He sighed.

"All right, that's enough you three," Jareth commanded calmly. They froze, and back away from Colleen.

"Aw we was just having fun," One muttered out. They stood in a line in front of Jareth. Colleen fussed while smoothing out the skirt of her dress. Jareth gave them a quick wink while Colleen wasn't looking.

"Run along now," He told them nodding once. They all scrambled back down the hall, sure to brush up against Colleen skirts once more on their way, getting a growl out of her.

"I swear I don't know how you live with these things!" Colleen complained.

"There not that bad," Sarah answered. Colleen shrugged her off, acting as if she hadn't spoken.

"Colleen, I thought I told you that you should leave in the morning," Jareth stated flatly. "Your horses have had more than enough time to rest, so I really think you should leave."

Colleen acted as if she were going to protest, but shut her mouth. She knew it was no good to fight him on it.

"Fine, be a dear Jareth and send something to fetch my things down to my carriage?" She asked him slyly, a calmness came over her face that Sarah didn't like.

"I'll do that," He complied, just wanting her gone, really. He glanced at Sarah, as if asking her if she would be ok alone with Colleen for a moment. Sarah silently nodded back. Without a word Jareth disappeared around a corner. Sarah rocked her weight back and forth from her feet, not sure what to say alone with the princess.

"I see the way you look at him you know," Colleen sneered at Sarah, speaking as if she had just uncovered Sarah's darkest secrets.

"What do you mean?" Sarah tried to play off. Colleen took a step closer to her.

"Don't play stupid with me girl," She hissed. "If you think you're going to get hooked up with the Goblin King, you better think again. Royalty should be with Royalty," She gestured to herself. "Now you, do you know how you're thought of here? Hm? Do you? You're a human, not many Fae's ever get to see one, much less meet one. So let me tell you, your an oddity. A walking freak show, a conversation piece. The whole Ball is so everyone can see you, to meet a human up close, and for no other reason. What status do you have here, hm? None, you may as well be a kitchen maid."

"I own half of-"

"Yes, you own half of Jareth's kingdom. But as soon as Jareth marries, you lose it," Colleen smirked. "He didn't tell you that, did he? Then what will you have here? Nothing. No title, no land, and do you intent to live under this roof if Jareth has a wife?" She had a laugh that could only be described as malicious. "And one day Sarah, I will be his wife. You'll see."

"I think you need to leave," Sarah said in a solid voice.

Colleen's slender hand came hard across Sarah's face with a loud smack.

"How dare you speak to me as if I am lower than you! You'll do well to mind your tongue girl! Remember what I said," Colleen said over her shoulder as she turned to walk down the hall, her work here done.

Sarah didn't move for a full minute. She just stood there, not even bothering to turn her head straight again from Colleens blow. What if Colleen was right? Why else would they host a Ball for her? She was an oddity. There were no other humans here, she knew she was rare here. Sarah thought about how fascinated Terra was with Aboveground objects in her collection. She would ogle at them for hours. Would the Fae's look at her like Terra did with her Aboveground collection? Was this all just for show? To meet a human up close and personal? What power did she have here? None, Colleen was right. And when Jareth married, she would lose her half of the kingdom? He hadn't said anything to her about that. A picture flashed into Sarah's mind of Colleen and Jareth married. Only then did she move to shake her head slowly. Suddenly, Sarah had never felt so alone in her whole life. Colleen had put everything into a sick perspective for her. Even more sickening, was Sarah's mind could back up everything Colleen had stated. She blinked letting hot tears run down her face, and bolted down the hall to her room.

Only then did Lydia open the door all the way and stepped into the hall. She had watched the whole scene of Colleen and Sarah play out.

~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~

Jareth tossed the last bag of Colleen's thing into her carriage. Just then she walked out, dressed in her long warm coat. He stepped away from the carriage, not bothering to open the door to let her in. The footman hopped down from the driver's seat to pull the door back open for Colleen.

"Well goodbye Jareth, it's been a lovely visit," She spoke in a very lady like tone.

"Goodbye Colleen," He barely mumbled as the footman shut the door, climbed back to his seat and cracked the whip. The horses stared of pulling the little elegant carriage. Jareth went inside quickly, the cold air blowing around him. He was surprised she has left so easily, no fight, no begging. It seemed odd but she was gone now and that was all he cared about.

He walked back upstairs to the Drawing room, Sarah nowhere to be found. He figured she had gone to her room, so he headed that way. He gently knocked on her door twice. After a moment of no answer, he knocked a little harder this time.

"Sarah?" He asked softly. Still no answer. He lightly pressed his ear to the door listening. He could hear running water, so he assumed she was going to get cleaned up for dinner. Thinking nothing of it, he headed down to get cleaned up as well.

~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~

Sarah leaned her head against the back of the tub, watching the steam rise from the water. Colleen's words were eating her alive. The 'What If' questions kept generating in her mind. Sarah also noticed the red mark on her face where Colleen had slapped her. It didn't hurt her physically, just her identity. She popped one of the bubbles on the surface of the water. Colleen was the last person on earth she would ever want to see Jareth with. A hint of jealousy came across her mind at that thought.

She stayed in the bath tub until the water grew cold. She stepped out wrapping a towel around her. She looked at herself in the mirror, as if waiting for her reflection to say something.

"Royalty should be with Royalty..." She muttered to herself.

~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~

Jareth walked into the dining hall, sitting down in his seat. Sarah hadn't come down yet, but they servants brought out the plates of food. Setting one in front of Jareth, and the other in front of Sarah's empty chair. He had guessed she wasn't done getting ready yet, so he politely waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Jareth restrained himself from going to get her, sure she would be down any time now. He formed a crystal in his palm and rolled it over his hand a few times, debating on whether he should take a peek to see what she was doing. After a moment he decided against it. He poked at his food that was now cold. Just then Lydia walked out of the kitchen holding a trey of food, and a drink. She looked a bit shocked to see Jareth looking over at her.

"Lydia, what are you doing?" He asked curiously. She deliberated her answer before talking.

"Since Miss Sarah didn't come down for dinner, I thought I would take some food up to her, and a hot drink," She told him coolly.

"Here, I'll take it to her. I want to see why she didn't come down anyway," Jareth stood up and held his hands out to take the tray from Lydia. She stepped back, pulling the tray out of his grasp.

"It's no trouble Sire, I'll take it to 'er. You can finish up yer dinner," Lydia offered. Jareth seemed a bit suspicious of Lydia's sudden actions.

"What's going on Lydia?" He asked her, crossing his arms. She sighed, lying was not an option. She set the tray down on the table.

"You see, Your Highness, Miss Sarah and Lady Colleen has a bit of a...confrontation," Lydia explained timidly.

Jareth narrowed his eyes.

"What kind of confrontation?"

Lydia then told Jareth what happen, what Colleen had said, and what she had done. How she saw the whole thing from looking though the cracked open door across the hall. She told him Sarah had gone straight to her room after that.

Jareth had slammed his fist on the table, causing everything on it to rattle. The nerve of that woman. His temper was going to get the best of him, but he didn't care. Colleen had gone too far this time. Saying what she said was unacceptable and striking Sarah was the icing on the cake. Jareth was fuming.

"Ready my horse Lydia," He ordered, stalking towards the door. He couldn't teleport that far, so it was fly or ride. He deciding on riding, he wanted to save his energy for when he caught up with her.

"Sire, I don't know if that's such a good idea, with your temper right now," Lydia said, wringing her hands.

"I don't care, she gets away with far too much, now she will suffer the consequences!" He hissed.

"Don't you think Sarah needs your attention more?" Lydia spoke a little louder, to make sure he heard. That froze Jareth in tracks. He looked at Lydia for a moment. She was right, his attention was needed here first. Colleen could wait, this wasn't going to be let go. He picked up the tray Lydia had set on the table. In a flash, Jareth appeared himself in Sarah's room. All the candles were out, the only light from the moon shining threw her window. He looked around the room, his eyes locking in on the mess of hair sprawled across a pillow. He walked over, setting the tray on the nightstand and knelt down beside the bed. Sarah lay breathing deeply, asleep. She had twisted herself up in the blankets and sheets. He brushed a damp lock of hair behind her ear. Even with just the moonlight, he saw her tear stained cheeks.

"Sarah?" He called softly. He wasn't sure if it was the best idea to wake her, but he wanted to make sure she was ok. She continued to breathe deeply. He stood up, looking her over one more time. He would talk to her in the morning, it was best to let her rest now. He picked up the tray again and flashed out of her room.

~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~

The next morning Jareth went down stairs for breakfast. Sarah was once again, nowhere to be seen. He sat down anyway, Lydia shortly after bringing him his food.

"Good Mornin'," Lydia greeting him kindly, pouring a drink into his glass.

"Good morning Lydia," he answered politely. Lydia hesitated leaving the table, Jareth looked up at her.

"Your Highness, I went to Sarah's room this mornin' and she said she wouldn't be down for breakfast," Lydia told him. "I told her I would bring her up a tray. Then she asked if she could just have all her meals brought up to her today."

"What else did she say?" Jareth asked her, his appetite suddenly gone. Lydia shook her head.

"Nothin' else, she didn't even open her door."

For the biggest part of the day, Jareth kept himself busy with work. Looking over paper after paper, scratching his signature here and there. He ended up writing to Terra, telling her of the events going on here at home. He formed a crystal and set it on top of his letter, the paper seeming to melt into the crystal ball. He then carelessly rolled it off the desk, but instead of falling, It floated its way out the window quickly. It would get to Terra in minutes. He made it a point to get up and walk past Sarah's room a few times. She hadn't come out all day. He even knocked once, getting silence as his answer. He tried to twist the doorknob slowly, but found it locked. Not that he couldn't get past that easily enough, but there was no point in barging in.

He wasn't really sure what else to do at the time, other than think of what was going to happen with Colleen. Jareth was going to handle this personably. He still wanted to leave to get to Colleen now, but he would wait. Wait until the ball. He would make sure to set a few things straight with her.

Heading back to his desk, he found a crystal orb sitting there. He picked it up, it instantly molding into a piece of parchment. Terra's elegant handwriting was on it.

Dear Brother,

Colleen returned here last night. Lynnett and I are on our way home. The thought of what she did makes me sick! We will see you tonight.

Terra.

Jareth tossed the letter on his desk along with some other papers. He sighed heavily, going back to his work.

~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~

"So, what's wrong with Sarah?" Lynnett asked her old sister. They were riding along in a carriage, heading home. Lynnett had overheard Terra carrying on about something with Sarah. She had picked up comments like. 'Poor Sarah', or 'When I get my hands on her…'

"Colleen stopped by and surprised Jareth," Terra explained to her younger sister. "She ended up saying some pretty mean things to Sarah, she is very upset over it."

"I hate that lady," Lynnett crossed her arms.

"Well..." Terra started. "Let's just try and be as nice to Sarah as we can when we get home all right?"

"Yeah that's a good idea," Lynnett agreed smiling at her older sister.

~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~

Sarah picked through the pages of a book she found in her room. It was filled with tons short stories. She had read a lot of them today. It temporarily pulled her mind away from things. She wasn't really in the mood to see anyone. Lydia came in twice, bring her breakfast and lunch. Jareth had came by too, but she didn't even answer the door. She felt bad, wanting nothing more than for him to comfort her and tell her Colleen was wrong. Again though, Sarah's mind concocted all the reasons for why Colleen was right. Suddenly there was a light tap on the door.

"Sarah?" Terra called out. "It's me, can I come in?"

Sarah debated for a moment before getting up to unlock the door, Terra stepping inside. Terra gave her a tight hug before they sat back down.

"So I heard about Colleen..." Terra started.

"How?" Sarah asked. She hadn't' told anyone about it. Terra gave her a sympathetic look before going on.

"Lydia saw the whole thing. She told Jareth and Jareth told me," She folded her hands in her lap.

"Things do spread like wild fire here," Sarah said rubbing the back of her head. "But really I'm ok, I just didn't feel like having company today." Terra seemed to see right through her cover.

"Sarah, it's ok that you're upset. I would feel the same way if someone said something like that to me. But Sarah, She's wrong. Just because you human doesn't make you an oddity. That's not why we are having the ball. Yes, it's true it is very rare to have a human here, but you have gotten tangled into a very important web here. Other people who are involved in that web want to meet you as well. It's just like a tradition here," Terra gave Sarah's hand a quick pat. "Any way Colleen, is just a selfish, spoilt, jealous girl."

"Jealous?" Sarah asked. "What do I have that she can't have that makes her jealous?"

"My brother's attention," Terra smiled knowingly. "Whether anyone sees it or not, he's got quite a soft spot for you. Colleen has always wanted to be with my brother. When he shows no interest in her, she can't take it. She will say or do anything to make someone else miserable."

"Sarah!" Lynnett's musical voice rang loudly as she burst through the door at an inhuman speed. She flung her arms around Sarah's neck. "Did you miss me?! Did you?!"

"Of course I did," Sarah confirmed. "Did you have fun?"

"No, it was really boring," She emphasized the word 'boring'. "Are you still sad about Colleen?"

"Lynnett," Terra scowled.

"It's ok," Sarah told Terra. "I'm fine Lynnett, I know she was just being mean. I'm all right see?" She gave the young girl a grin, pointing.

"Good! That means we can play!" Lynnett squealed, running out of the room. "I'll be right back!"

Sarah laughed out loud. It was nice to have some company today. You couldn't be really upset about anything with Lynnett's bubbly attitude around.

"Are you sure your all right Sarah?" Terra asked again. "If you want, next time we see her, I'll hold her down and you can slap her back."

"Sounds good to me," Sarah smirked. Just then Lynnett came in with a big box of colored pencils and a stack of paper.

"Well I'm going to go and get something to eat and a few other things need my attention, so if you need me just call," Terra said letting herself out of the room.

"Here Sarah," Lynnett patter a spot on the floor for Sarah to come sit down at. She set everything up and began scribbling away. Sarah started doodling as well. Lynnett talked and talked, telling Sarah everything and anything that popped up into her mind. It was fun to listen to the little girl, here things from her perspective.

"What did you draw Sarah?" Lynnett asked, turning her attention to Sarah. "What is that?"

"It's Merlin. He's my dog back home," Sarah had just finished scribbling in his tail. "What about you? What did you draw?"

"My family," Lynnett grabbed her paper setting it in front of Sarah. It was a typical eight year old drawing, maybe a bit better. There were six people on the page. The first two were a lady and a man, with crowns on their heads. Sarah assumed that was Lynnetts parents. Then there was a girl with a long braid down her back, Terra. The short little girl next was obviously Lynnett herself. Then there was a man with wild blond hair, Jareth no doubt. Lastly there was another girl standing next to Jareth.

"Who is this Lynnett? Do you all have another sister I don't know about?" Sarah asked puzzled.

"That's you silly," Lynnett said getting to work on drawing another picture. Sarah looked closer, it was a girl with long dark hair in a pair of jeans and a button up shirt. The outfit she had been brought here in.

"Aw Lynnie that's so sweet, but you didn't have to draw me in there," Sarah told her.

"But you are family now. Don't families live with each other and see each other every day and care about each other?" She asked not looking up from her paper.

"Well yes but-"

"Then I'm right," She said triumphantly. "Terra and Jareth think so too."

"They do?"

"Yep, Terra loves having you around and my Brother really likes you," She picked up a red pencil.

"He does? How do you know?" Sarah innocently pressed. She started a new picture as well, trying not to be obvious.

"He told me before we went to see my parents. He said that he didn't want you to leave and he liked spending time with you. Normally he had gone back to his castle by now. He never stays this long. I asked him who was taking care of the Goblin city and he said it was fine and not to worry," She changed to a blue pencil. "He'd rather be here with you."

"Oh," Sarah stated simply. She dare not press any further. They just continued coloring until there was a knock on the door.

"Sarah, can I come in?" Jareth asked.

"Yeah," She called back, putting her pencil down. Jareth walked in, looking at the mess of papers and pencils scattered across the floor.

"Having fun?" He asked, taking a seat in a nearby chair. Sarah nodded not looking up from her paper. "Lynnett, why don't you head on down to the sewing room? Lydia needs to fit you for your dress."

"Aw fine," She said, gathering up her things. She stopped at the door. "Promise to come and read to me tonight?" She asked Sarah.

"I always do," She confirmed. Sarah sat up on her knees.

"Sarah, about Colleen," He brought up delicately.

"It's ok, don't worry about it," Sarah waved her hand.

"It's not ok," He locked eyes with her. "It was completely unacceptable, I should have known better then to leave you alone with her. She won't get away with it." He paused for a moment before going on. "You know she was just trying to stay those things to hurt you right?"

"If you marry Colleen, and I lose my half of the kingdom, what would I do?" Sarah asked, not bothering to answer his question.

"Excuse me?" He asked baffled by the sudden question.

"What would I do?" She repeated.

"Don't worry about it, the thought of marring Colleen turns my stomach. I'm guessing she out that thought in your head," Jareth got up and walked over to sit on the edge of Sarah's bed. He hinted to her to sit next to him, patting the spot next to him. She complied and sat on the edge of the bed.

"I don't want you marrying that awful woman," Sarah quickly rushed the words out of her mouth. She avoided his eye contact, the tone of her cheeks deepening.

"Sarah," he said lightly pulling her chin to face him. "Colleen is far from the woman I want. How do you feel about me Sarah?" He asked her bluntly.

Sarah was a bit taken back, she wasn't sure what to say. She liked him probably more then she should.

"Well," She said uneasily. "I like you, a lot." She fiddled with her hands, looking at her lap.

Next thing she knew Jareth's lips were on hers. An arm slid around her waist, a hand pressed into the back of her head. She wrapped her arms around his neck, leaning into him. He pushed her back into the pillows, leaving her half sitting up. He leaned over her, his lips never leaving hers. His hand slid from her waist to her thigh slowly. Sarah sighed against his lips. She felt his tongue glide across her lower lip once, butterflies stirring in her stomach. After a moment she parted her lips to let him explore her mouth. Jareth quickly took control of her mouth, toying with her tongue. He slowly kissed his way down to her neck, gently nipping at her skin. He stroked her stomach, drawing imaginary shapes. Jareth's lips skimmed across her collarbone when someone knocked on the door. Jareth let out a low growl. Sarah cleared her throat.

"Yes," She steadied her voice.

"It's time for dinner," Lydia called out.

"Of course it," Jareth muttered, sitting up. Sarah sat up as well, running her fingers threw her hair.

"Be right down Lydia," She answered back. Jareth stood up offering her his hand. She took it, standing up. As they headed towards the door Jareth whispered low in her ear.

"By the way, Good answer."

~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~

The next few days went by quickly. With Terra and Lynnett home, they kept Sarah pretty busy. She spent most of the day with them, and the evening with Jareth, repeatedly going over dances and such. No one had brought anything up about Colleen. It was now the night before the ball, and everyone was scattering about making sure things were ready.

"Miss Sarah would you mind commin' with me for a while?" Lydia asked Sarah. "I want you to try on your dress."

"It's finished?" Sarah asked, a little excited to see what Lydia had come up with.

"Sure is" Lydia said proudly. "I finished it this morinin'. I want ya to try it on now, to make sure everythin' fits all right."

"I'm coming too!" Terra called. "You'll love it Sarah"

"You've seen it already?" Sarah asked.

"Well, I did have a little bit of an influence on it," Terra confessed. The girls followed Lydia to the little sewing workshop, the needles and thread still at their work. Lydia opened a door to a walk in closet, and came back with the dress in hand. Sarah only caught a glimpse of it before Terra covered her eyes.

"Wait, put it on her before she can see it," Terra suggested. "Keep your eyes closed ok Sarah?"

"All right, all right," Sarah agreed. They helped her change, Sarah feeling her clothing being tugged around. After a few moments Terra gave the ok for Sarah to open her eyes.

"This is my dress?" She asked amazed. It was a deep blue, sleeveless dress. The back of it dipped low, to the middle of her back. Its skirts flared out around her, the top of the dress although sleeveless, had a slight V to it. It was lined with silver trim at the top, and the ends of the skirts. Silver glitter twinkled everywhere on the dress, the tiny gems here and there reflecting any light. Sarah also noticed the black lace sewed into the hem of the dresses skirts.

"Like it?" Terra asked,

"This dress is amazing, I love it. Thanks so much Lydia," Sarah turned around, looking at the dress from all angles.

"I knew you would," Terra chimed in.

"You're welcome. Let get it back on the hanger now before it gets wrinkled," Lydia said, tugging on a few spots to make sure everything fit before helping Sarah out of the beautiful dress. Sarah quickly changed back into her cloths.

"Ok, Miss Terra, your turn," Lydia said bring out another dress.

"Terra I hope I'm not being rude but would you care if I left you all to it?" Sarah hinted.

"Sure, go on. I take forever anyway," Terra said waving her off.

"Thanks," Sarah said before dodging out of the room. She walked down the hall into the Drawing room. Jareth was lounged back in a chair, reading.

"Knock knock," Sarah said walking in. Jareth closed his book and sat up straight in his chair.

"Well hello there," Jareth greeted her. Sarah sat next to him. "Nervous about tomorrow?"

"A little," She confessed. "But I think I'll make it."

"You'll do just fine," He confirmed.

"Any last minute Fae things I need to know that you may have missed?" Sarah asked.

"None that I can think of," He told her. The clock chimed once. It was ten o'clock.

"Guess I better go read to Lynnett, Sarah said standing. She didn't realize it was so late already.

"I'll join you," Jareth said standing. He offered Sarah his arm, she took it and they made their way down the hall to Lynnett's room. Sarah knocked on in door.

"Come in!" Lynnett called. They walked in to find Lynnett pulling down a book from her book shelf. She rolled into her bed and held the book out. "This one!"

Sarah took her seat right next to Lynnetts bed, while Jareth sat in a chair a bit further away, watching. Sarah opened the book and began reading with dexterity. After what seemed like only a few pages, Lynnetts eye sagged down, she blinked a few times slowly before she started lightly snoring. Sarah closed the book.

"This girl is never going to hear the end of a story," Sarah whispered. Jareth flicked his wrists, dimming the light as they made their way out of the room.

"You may as well go to sleep to," Jareth told her. "You have a big day tomorrow."

"I guess you're right," She agreed. They headed towards Sarah's room. "I don't know how well I'll sleep. I'm too antsy about tomorrow," She told him in light conversation. She opened her door and Jareth leaned in her door frame. "Wow look at that."

Sarah walked into her room and over to the balcony glass doors. The sky was completely clear, and every star shone brightly along with a full moon. Jareth walked up beside her.

"I've never seen the sky so bright at night like this," She told him. "It's pretty."

"I suppose it is," He answered.

Jareth snaked an arm around Sarah's middle, pulling her closer. She leaned her head on his shoulder.

"Oh I almost forgot," Jareth pulled a small box out of his breast pocket. He walked Sarah over to her bed, sat down and handed it to her.

"What's this?" She asked, opening the little box. She pulled out a silver chain, she looked closely at the pendent. It was an owl, its wings spread wide, as if in mid flight.

"Though you might need a necklace," Jareth said. "May I?"

Sarah handed him the chain, and pulled her hair to one side. Jareth quickly latched the short chain around her neck. The owl resting right below her collar bone.

"Thank you Jareth, it's lovely," She said running her finger over it.

"Good, then it matches it owner," He said slyly, tilting her chin upwards. He pressed a soft kiss on her lips. "I guess I should let you get some sleep."

"I can't stay up a little longer, just let me go change into my pajamas," Sarah told him. She reluctantly pulled away from his hold and headed into her closet, closing the door behind her. When she emerged she was in a long lavender nightdress. Jareth cocked in eyebrow looking over at her. Sarah crawled onto her bed and folder her legs under her.

"So..." She started.

"So...?"

"Well I own half of the Labyrinth right?" Jareth nodded. "I don't really do anything, I don't feel very useful."

"The only thing you really have to do is sign a few papers here and there, make sure everything is in check, so on and so forth. But you needn't worry, I've taken care of it," Jareth told her.

"Well it doesn't seem fair to give you all the work," She told him.

"It's not anymore then I used to do."

"Still I'd like to help," Sarah said waiting. Jareth deliberated momentarily.

"If you wish," He answered. Sarah rubbed her eyes and stiffened a yawn. It didn't go unnoticed.

"You are tired, go to sleep. We can talk more in the morning," Jareth stood to leave, but Sarah reached out and grabbed his sleeve.

"No it's ok really," She wasn't ready to be alone just yet. Even if she was tired.

Jareth paused and looked her over one more time. He waved his hand quickly, the light in the room turned to darkness. Another wave and the fire place lit itself. Sarah could only see his silhouette against the light of the fire. She felt the weight on the mattress shift as Jareth sat down close to her. She thought she heard him kick off his boots. The blanket was pulled from under her, and Jareth's hand pulled her closer to him. He pulled her until she was lying down, her head on his shoulder. He flung the blanket back over them, pulling Sarah closer until there was no space between then. He kissed her for a long moment before pulling back, speaking to her with a slightly commanding voice that wasn't to be argued with.

"Now, go to sleep"

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Sorry everyone, last week was exams I was slammed with studying. I also had a makeup class I had to crunch in along with packing my things. It's been busy so I made a extra long chapter! Hope you guys like.

Also thanks soooo very much to my Beta, ModFae! 3 Review please3


	8. The Grand Ball

Chapter Eight

The Grand Ball

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The next morning Sarah awoke, her eyes were still closed but she could feel the sun on her face. Slowly things started rushing back into her head from last night. Jareth had ended up crawling into bed with her. She remembered his arms wrapped around her snuggly, her head on his shoulder, and his lips on hers. She lay there for a few moments more with her eyes closed. She suddenly realized the room was silent, other than her own breathing. She peeked open her eyes. The other side of her bed was empty, other than some tossed sheets. Sarah frowned to herself. Where had he gone? She forced herself not to close her eyes again. She sat up and flung her legs over the bed side. Sarah saw the clock read nine, so she pulled her robe on over her nightdress, and walked out of her room to go get some breakfast. As soon as she opened her door and stepped into the hallway, a few goblins collided into her.

"Ow..." Sarah said, picking herself back up. A few dazed goblins were sprawled on the floor, along with what looked to be decorations.

"Arg..." One groaned.

"Are you guys alright?" Sarah asked, helping one to its feet.

"Yes," Another answered. "Sorry we didn't mean to run into ya, we was just trying ta hurry." The all scrambled to pick up everything they had dropped.

"What are you doing?" Sarah asked. Some started off down the hall, arms full.

"We is helping decorate for the big shindig tonight! The Ladies said to bring these down right away!" It told Sarah and bolted down the hall to catch up with the others.

As Sarah walked down the halls to the dining hall, she saw the whole place seemed to be in a muck. Servants were hustling about, goblins not too far behind. Sarah had to dodge a few before she got to the dining hall. No one was there, so she decided to step into the kitchen, a few Fae's were cooking like crazy. The kitchen was cluttered with bags of this or sacks of that. Sarah thought it might be a better idea to fend for herself with breakfast this morning. She picked a piece of fruit. It would do. She munched on it lightly as she made her way back to her room to change.

She came back out into the same mess, people and goblins still darting about. She still had yet to see Jareth. She wasn't sure just where to look. She ended up deciding to check his room. Odd though, she had never been to his room before, she knew where it was though. She strolled down the hall in that general direction. Just as she turned down his hallway, someone tugged on the skirt of her dress.

"Sarah can you help me?" Lynnett asked, her arms full.

"Sure Lynnie," Sarah took over half of what was in the young girls arms. "More decorations?"

"Yeah, they kinda go crazy with these things," she told Sarah, starting down the hall. Sarah followed close behind her.

"Don't you think this is going a little overboard?" Sarah asked Lynnett.

"Nope, it's just how we do things," Lynnett shrugged, pushing open the Ballroom door with her shoulder. Sarah walked in right behind her. There must have been fifty people in here decorating. Tables were being set up, streamers being tossed and twisted, goblins running around with ribbons or table cloths. Floors were being scrubbed and everything polished. Sarah soon caught sight of Terra; she had her back turned to her, hollering up at a pair of servants.

"A little more to the left!" she called up.

"Come on Sarah, just set all that down over here," Lynnett nodded towards a table. Sarah set down her ribbons, cloths and such.

"Anything else Lynnie?" Sarah asked.

"Nope," said the little girl as she started on a project of her own. Sarah walked over to Terra, who had her hands on her hips.

"Looks like fun," Sarah commented sarcastically.

"Oh yes," Terra answered in the same tone smiling. "Really though, you think putting something up straight wouldn't be such a hard task." Terra then started to explain what was going to go where, how she wanted it, so on and so on.

"All this done by tonight?" Sarah asked.

"Yes ma'am," She nodded. "We'll get it done." There was a sudden crash from somewhere in the room. "Oh no! Not the vases!" Terra rushed off towards the disaster. Sarah just shook her head and smiled, leading herself out of the chaotic mess. She still wanted to find Jareth, see what he was up to. So she headed back down to his hall, again. The further back in the castle she went, the less and less servants there were around. When she reached Jareth's wing, no one was around. She walked slowly up to his door. She listened for a minute to see if she could hear anything. Nothing. She raised her hand to knock on his door.

"Hello there," The low voice whispered in her ear. Sarah turned around so quickly, she stumbled back against the wall. Jareth was standing there with a smirk on his face, his arms crossed. "Sleep well?"

Sarah steadied herself again before simply nodding, not sure how else to answer.

"I was wondering where you were," Sarah said, changing the subject.

"Yes, well there was much to be done today; sadly I couldn't sleep away the day," He glanced up at her, "Much as I may have wanted to." Sarah's face turned pink. He decided to spare her; she had too much to deal with later on anyways. "The guests should be arriving here in a few hours."

"Well anything I can do to help till then?" Sarah asked.

"Nope," He said taking a step towards her. "Everything is set and on its way. All you have to do is dress up and look pretty."

"Easier said," Sarah blew out a breath.

"Well you seem to be doing a fine job of it now," Jareth commented.

"Yeah, yeah," Sarah waved off his compliment as she started to walk down the hall away from his room. Jareth was quick on her heels. He couldn't help but noticed that owl necklace still hung from her neck. He just smiled to himself.

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Lydia had just pinned up the last section of Sarah's hair. Sarah looked at herself in the mirror. She wore the deep blue, sparkling dress; her hair had been twisted and pinned up against her head, with a few strands brushing her shoulders. The owl hung right under her collar bone, sparkling in the light. Lydia finished off her look with a miniature tiara tucked into her hair.

"You look wonderful," Lydia said putting her hands on her hips. "That'll knock their socks off."

"Yeah Sarah you look so pretty!" Lynnett ran up to stand beside her. The little girl wore a shorter dress with ruffles and ribbons galore.

"Thanks Lynnie," Sarah smiled. Just then Terra walked in.

"Are you all ready? We are going to be late," She told them calmly.

"We're ready," Sarah confirmed. The three girls started down the hall. Lydia said she would sneak on in later. They reached the Ballroom doors, even though they were shut, Sarah could hear the mumbling on the other side. Jareth, another man, and the King and his wife were standing at the door. Sarah quickly took in a deep breath.

"Hi Mama!"Lynnett bounced over to her mother and into her arms. Her mother gave her a quick hug.

"This must be Sarah!" The Queen exclaimed. She gave Sarah a thoughtful hug. "It's so nice to meet you dear! I'm Gizelle, Jareth's mother I'm sure you know. There had certainly been a buzz about you going on lately, why I-"

"Mother please," Jareth softly spoke. "You'll have plenty of time to talk to her over dinner. Our guests are waiting," He hinted.

"Yes, dear. Come on," The King spoke up, offering his arm to his wife. Terra and her escort stepped in front Jareth and Sarah, linking arms. Terra turned and winked at Sarah. Sarah turned to Jareth; she finally got a good look at him. He was dressed in an outfit that matched hers perfectly. He wore the same colored deep blue coat, with a white undershirt. He had silver gems sewn into his coat as well. His black snug pants and the unforgettable knee high black books, only these were polished and looked new. Following suit, Jareth offered his arm to Sarah, who slightly leaned against him. The line order was The King and Queen, Lynnett, Terra and her escort, then Jareth and Sarah. Sarah remembered Jareth telling her the children went from youngest to oldest.

"Now presenting..." She heard through the door, the room hushed. She took another deep breath.

"Just walk and smile," He reassured her as the doors opened. The 'line' they had formed spaced apart, allowing for the guests to see everyone. As soon as Sarah and Jareth walked through the door, Sarah could hear hushed whispers. They didn't sound bad, but still. She just tried to keep a light smile on her face, like Jareth had told her. They made their way up to the head table, where Jareth pulled out her chair for her. He then sat down next to her. The only one who had remained standing was the King himself. There was already a goblet full of wine set in from of everyone, aside from Lynnettt. The King rambled on for a moment, about honoring the new ruler of half of the Labyrinth, and a few other things. Everyone toasted and took a drink. The conversation started to pick up as dinner was brought out. It was brought to the head table first. Once they began to eat, everyone else was served. Jareth's mother took this time to talk to Sarah.

"So my dear, how do you like it here?" She asked politely around a mouthful.

"It's wonderful," Sarah answered honestly. She then proceeded to tell the King and Queen how she spent her time here. Throughout Sarah's discussions with the Queen, she overheard Jareth's father trying to ask him something. Jareth seemed to be ignoring him, odd. Terra stepped into the conversation asking her mother about something. Sarah took this chance to look over at Jareth. He smiled back at her formally.

"Now you see where Terra gets it from?" He arched an eyebrow. Sarah just laughed to herself and smiled. She looked across the table at the young man sitting next to Terra. He looked quiet pleased with himself, he had one of those school boy grins like after getting his dream girl to accompany him to prom. Sarah thought she heard someone say his name was Charles. She glanced over the crowd, hundreds of people were here. They were dressed in the most elaborate outfits, all stunning. She couldn't help but feel a bit out of place. The Fae's natural features never ceased to amaze her. The facial markings, flawless figures, they all looked like run way models without even trying. Jareth father had introduced himself. King Blaine Faden, his full title. He smile warmly at Sarah and kept a pleasant tone. Sarah though she heard the band start to pick up a mid-pace welcoming tempo.

"Looks like they are in a hurry to get this on a roll," Jareth father commented, standing up to pull his wife's chair out for her. Terra's escort, along with Jareth did the same. Jareth led her to the dance floor; a few other couples seemed to be collecting there as well. Sarah stood across from Jareth, about a foot away. She had practiced the dances with Jareth over and over this week, but she was still nervous about all the eyes on her.

"Does she know how to do these?" She heard a woman whisper to her partner a few feet away. Sarah couldn't help but noticed the expecting stares she got from every other couple on the floor, even Jareth's parents. They weren't negative, just curious to see if she knew what she was doing. There seemed to be some sort of tension floating around on the floor. Like everyone was being extra careful around her.

She looked up at Jareth who reassured her with a nod. The music made and loop, and began. Everyone, including Sarah stepped right into pace. Sarah could have sworn she heard sighs of relief coming from everyone around her as she executed the steps as flawlessly as anyone else around her. Everyone seemed to smile a little brighter, including Sarah. Jareth gave her and 'I told you so' look. Sarah kept her moves in check as she broke her gaze from Jareth's. It was an amazing scene being played about before her. She had dreams about this, the music the laugher, the dancing. It was like a fairy tale coming to life, that she was now a part of. More and more couples joined the crowd, smiling as they moved past Sarah. Jareth stepped forward for the next move, turning her by placing his hand on the small of her back. Sarah had her back against his chest.

"I told you, you're doing wonderful," He whispered right in her ear before spinning her. At Jareth's easy words, the last bit of shyness was torn away from her and she let herself fully enjoy the dance. They continued on for a while longer before the dance slowly came to stop. People laughed causally and clapped. Jareth led Sarah off the dance floor for a moment as the next dance started. Her face was glowing. He pulled out her chair and she sat down. He sat down next to her. Jareth was happy she seemed to be enjoying herself.

"This is amazing," Sarah told him smiling. "Last time I was so worried about staying out of sight, I didn't get a chance to see everything."

"Yes, well we do tend to go all out with these kinds of things. Come," He said standing. "Why don't we start getting these introductions over with?" Sarah nodded and took the hand he offered her. So for about an hour Jareth introduced her to what seemed to be dozens of people. The women she spoke with mostly complimented her dress, hair or something along those lines. The men seemed to be a bit more curious, asking her questions about Aboveground life. Sarah answered simple things like how she got here, what she did back home, why certain things were the way they were. Sarah found something a bit odd about Jareth. He wore such a formal attitude; he looked and acted very much so like a king. Sarah had never really seen this side of him. There wasn't anything really wrong, he was very polite to everyone, but his mind seemed elsewhere. She almost swore she caught his eyes scanning the crowd. Odd.

"Jareth," A man called, Sarah and Jareth both turning around to see who it was. A man Jareth's height stood before them. He had much tanner skin and was very brawny. His hair was a glossy black and his eyes twinkled a strange green color. His fun loving smile looked like something you would see on the cover of a magazine.

"Falken," Jareth greeted warmly, he seemed to let the formality slip from his face for a moment. The other man giving him a brotherly tap on the shoulder.

"Where have you been? No one's seen you back at the City for weeks and weeks," He scolded jokingly.

"Well I fear my time has been a bit occupied," Jareth's eyes drifted over to Sarah. Falken turn to look at her.

"Ah I see, the Aboveground girl," He took Sarah's hand and kissed it lightly. Jareth raised an eyebrow and the men seemed to exchange some unspoken conversation. "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Falken Avallon, Keeper of the Labyrinths fortress. And the one who keeps his royal Highness here out of trouble," He pointed to Jareth.

"Very funny," Jareth half smirked. "Falken and I are childhood friends. When I was promoted to King, I assigned his to be my right hand so to speak. I trust this man with my life."

"You only say that because I keep you off hot coals," Falken jested. Suddenly Jareth's eyes locked onto something. This didn't go unnoticed by Falken or Sarah.

"Jareth what are you loo-" Sarah started.

"Sarah! There you are!" Terra hurried over to her. "You've only danced to one song, everyone seemed pretty impressed and I'm sure they'd love to see you out there some more," Terra hinted. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jareth say something to Falken, he spoke so low Sarah couldn't even hear him she just say his lips move. She turned her attention back to Terra.

"Well..." Sarah though out loud. Suddenly Jareth had his arm around her middle herding her towards the dance floor. Terra walked ahead to join her partner. Jareth quickly stepped into tempo and let Sarah step in as well. She looked at him questionably. He seemed to be in a hurry. Jareth caught her stare, he was about to speak when someone waltz right past them. Jareth tried to turn Sarah to face the other way but it was too late. Colleen was dancing with what Sarah guessed was her escort for the evening. She said nothing but gave Sarah the deadliest stare she had ever seen. Jareth pulled Sarah close enough to whisper,

"Just keep dancing." He spun her around quickly, almost making her dizzy. When she completed her circle, she found that Jareth's arms were no longer around her. Falken had seemed to take his place in a flash. He smiled down warmly at her. She continued dancing but found Jareth nowhere in sight,

"Where did he go?" she asked Falken, trying not to sound rude.

"He'll be right back," he reassured her. The dance ended and Sarah gave Falken a quick curtsy. Another cheery tune picked right back up though. He tried to lead Sarah into the next dance, but she took a step back.

"Please," She gave another quick curtsy. "I really want to see where he has gone too," Sarah started to walk away but Falken gently took hold of her forearm.

"One more dance?" He pleaded mildly. A few people looked over at the two wondering what was going on. Falken tried to avoid a scene, he sighed heavily before causally pulling her back into a stance. Sarah even tried to step back again, but his steel grasp didn't allow it.

"What are you doing?" She asked, anger hinting in her voice. This turned a few more heads, but Falken kept his cool smile.

"Miss Sarah please," Falken begged through his teeth, keeping the smile on his face to convince onlookers. "Trust me."

Sarah caught the looks on the people faces around her as well, she lowered her voice.

"What's going on?" She demanded quietly. Falken lead her through the dance still.

"Miss Sarah, please," He repeated hushly. "I'm only doing what Jareth asked."

"What did he ask?"

"To keep you here until he got back, he'll only be gone for a few minutes," Falken tried to sooth her.

"What's he doing?" She had stopped resisting so people would stop looking at them oddly.

"He will tell you everything when he gets back," Falken spun her lightly. Sarah decided to let it go for now. She wasn't very happy about it though. She also glanced around the other couples, Colleen and her death stare seemed to be nowhere around.

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Jareth locked the door behind them with a wave of his hand. He had taken Colleen from her partner easily. The boy she was with seemed to have drunk so much already it took him a minute to process. Colleen whined the whole way as he dragged her off the floor, past the tables out of the Ballroom and down the hall into a spare room. The festivities from the Ball could still be heard down here. He faced her without speaking for a moment.

"Jareth really," She looked at herself in a mirror hanging on the wall. She toyed with her bangs. "If you wanted to be alone, all you had to do was tell me," She batted her eyelashes as she looked at him through the mirror.

"Colleen you are no longer welcome in this castle, is that clear?" Jareth told her, his tone fierce. Colleen turned around placing her hands on her hips.

"What do you mean?" she asked innocently. Jareth used all his power not to snap right there.

"Sarah," was all he said.

"Oh please," she waved a hand at him. "That mortal girl. She had no right to tell me to leave," She crossed her arms.

"She had every right. And still does. I want you gone, now," Jareth voice was husked. "And I'm going to make sure you are held accountable for your actions."

"Oh no, please not the courts," she mimicked. "You know they won't do anything, a slap on the wrist, how terrible."

"Then maybe I should handle this personally," He growled stepping nose to nose with Colleen. Her face changed into what seemed to be fear. Suddenly the door swung open.

"Jareth..." Terra called from the doorway. "This isn't the time or place for it." She had seen him leave the Hall with Colleen and followed close behind, her brother's temper could sometimes get the best of him. Terra took another step closer to her brother.

Colleen gave Jareth a wicked smirk, not budging from where she stood. Jareth took a deep breath to steady himself before turning to walk away from her.

"You're just mad because what I told her was true!" The enraged Colleen grabbed Jareth shoulder. Her nails dug across his collar bone, trying to turn him back around. She doesn't belong here, she's just a conversation piece, a ditzy little mortal who-"

Jareth snapped. In half a second he had turned and clenched Colleen around her neck with one hand. He slammed her into the mirror that shattered into pieces and held her there. She flung her hands up to try to pull his hand from her throat, but he was ten times stronger than her, his anger giving him an adrenaline rush on top of that.

"Nothing, nothing you said to her was true and you know that. If you ever, ever lay a hand on Sarah again," He snarled threw his clenched jaw, "I swear you will never see the light of day again." He had never put a hard hand towards a woman in his life, he had intended to keep it that way, but Colleen had pushed the wrong button. He pressed her by her throat against the wall even harder, a cough escaped her. Terra, the voice of reason, stepped forward to put her hand on her brother's shoulder.

"Jareth..." She repeated calmly. At his sisters words her loosened his hold. "Not that she doesn't deserve it," Terra glared at Colleen. "But you know this will only get you into trouble. You don't need that right now and Sarah sure doesn't." Jareth relaxed his body some, but still didn't completely let go of Colleen.

"Never, come back here again," He told her with deadly venom. He slowly let his hand drop from her throat, never breaking his killer glare on her. "Leave now." Colleen sunk to the floor before she took a deep breath in, rubbing her neck. Her face seemed shocked as she stared up at Jareth. He turned on his heels and stalked out of the room, Terra right behind him. She stopped in the doorway.

"I'd listen if I were you," She warned before disappearing around the corner.

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Sarah had danced with Falken at least three or four dances by now. Falken tried to amuse her by telling her stories about his and Jareth's childhood. He told her of mishaps when Jareth was little and was learning to work his magic, blowing things up or getting himself into trouble. She could tell by the way he talked that they really were the best of friends. She had a feeling he would be around for a while.

"Care if I cut in?" Jareth seemed to appear right next to them.

"Well if you really insist," Falken teased as he let loose of Sarah and held his arms expectantly out to Jareth. He had a big cheesy grin on his face. Even though Sarah was curious where Jareth had been, she couldn't hold back from laughing.

"Very funny," Jareth knocked away Falken's hands and gave him a mock scowl.

"He was always the kill joy," Falken whispered to Sarah, winking. Sarah just smiled back.

"Thank you," Jareth said to Falken, locking his gaze. He just nodded and headed off somewhere. Jareth took Sarah in his arms, getting ready to step into the beat.

"Please can we go sit down?" Sarah asked. "My feet are kind of tired."

"Of course," Jareth started to lead them back to the head table, but Sarah tugged him the other way. She seemed to be leading him to the emptiest corner of the room. There were a few comfortable chairs there, a small couch and the light was a bit dimmer. She wanted all the eyes off her for a moment. She sat down on the small couch, Jareth seating himself next to her.

"What were you doing?" Sarah asked him casually.

"Nothing, I just needed to step out of a minute," Jareth quickly answered. Sarah wasn't going to settle for that answer.

"Jareth," She blew out a breath. "Please, just tell me?" Sarah pleaded to him tiredly. She leaned back against the couch, closing her eyes half way. Jareth assumed she must be very tired. His eyes couldn't help but skim over her. The dress was immaculate on her, it really was. It hugged her in all the right places, showed off her best assets. He also again noticed the owl twinkled from around her neck. Jareth causally leaned back against the couch as well getting comfortable.

"I had a chat with Colleen," He started; Sarah's eyes snapped up at him, a look of worry hinted in them. "And everything is taken care of. You won't ever have to see her here again, or anywhere else."

"Well that couldn't have gone over too well with her," Sarah commented, she also happened to notice a small tear in the seam of his jacket. She reached out to trace the tear on his shoulder. She looked up at him, her eyes stating the unspoken.

"There was a bit of a confrontation," He explained. Sarah also noticed the top button on his shirt was buttoned, she thought it wasn't at the beginning on the night. Her hand traced over to the top button of his shirt. Jareth willingly unbuttoned it, exposing the clawed marks across his collar bone. "It's quiet alright though."

"Jareth..." Sarah scooted a little closer, her voice filled with concern. Jareth buttoned his shirt back up.

"Sarah trust me, it's nothing. It's just a scratch," He soothed her. "Please don't let this ruin your night, this is all for you," He gestured at the rest of the room filled with people, food, decorations. "Enjoy it."

Sarah looked out at the crowd. It seems a few people caught on to her absence and quickly located her and Jareth in the corner of the room. No one dared approach them but she saw eyes flicked in their direction every few seconds. Jareth saw the same thing.

"Well let's ride out the rest of the evening shall we?" He stood up, offering her a hand up. She righted herself and walked back out into the crowd with Jareth to mingle with the other Faes.

The night went on, more dancing, more questions. She even had quite a few Fae men ask her to dance. The first time she looked at Jareth uncertainly. He nodded though, not wanting everyone to see his over protectiveness weight out. It was pretty much customary for the person being honored to dance with others, though he didn't tell Sarah that. So he knew it would look strange if he kept her from doing so. He stayed right on the edge of the dance floor though, watching. He let out a sharp breath whenever he saw any of the men hold Sarah too close for his liking. Falken walked up joining him.

"Get that taken care of?" He asked causally, watching the dancers. Jareth nodded, he had his arms crossed tightly. Falken looked over at him.

"Jareth, relax," Falken raised an eyebrow at his friend. "They just are dancing with her; they aren't going to eat her."

Jareth loosened his grip on his own arms, his shoulders resting a bit. Falken again gave him a light tap on the shoulder.

"You got it bad," Falken stated, turning his attention back to the dancers.

"Got what?" Jareth asked, taking his eyes off Sarah for just a moment.

"You know what I mean," Falken simply answered. Suddenly Terra showed up.

"Hello Falken, I was wondering where you were hiding," Terra gave him an angel's smile. Falken had been around Terra her whole life, thanks to her brother.

"My lady," He bowed low.

"Oh stop that," She slapped him playfully at his formality. "Jareth, just so you know the last dance is next."

"And where is young Charles, my dear sister?" Jareth asked, looking around for him.

"Seems he had a bit too much to drink, he couldn't stand straight. I got him a carriage to escort him home safely," She explained.

"See? You always get them so nervous they drink themselves silly," Jareth teased his younger sister.

"Very funny," She smiled. They also heard to slow rhythmic beat of the last song beginning to play.

"Falken?" Terra asked looking up sweetly at him.

"Well, just let me get one more drink in her first," He played out the jest.

"Oh come on," Terra grinned, giving him a tug on the sleeve. They both laughed for a moment as he held out his arm to her and they made their way onto the floor. Jareth walked past them and between a few couples till he reached Sarah and the man dancing with her.

"Mind if I cut in?" Jareth tapped the man who was about three inches shorter than him, on his shoulder. The man nodded quickly and stepped aside. Jareth pulled Sarah close.

"You've been saying that an awful lot tonight," She told him.

"Yes, well it seems you are the Belle of the ball," He complemented. He noticed her eyes drop slightly. "Little too much excitement for you?"

"No," Sarah shook her head. "This evening has been wonderful." The dance went on for another minute or two, ending with them standing an inch from each other's faces. The cheer from the crowds clapping echoed all around. The night was finally over.

~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~

"Now Sarah dear, if you ever get bored and want to come out to see us don't hesitate," Jareth's mother gave Sarah a warm hug. "We'd love to have you out soon."

"Sure, soon I promise," Sarah nodded.

"Jareth, don't be a stranger as well, you don't come around nearly as much as you should son," His mother scolded him.

"It won't be long mother," He gave her a gentle hug.

"Well let's get going dear," The queen told her husband.

"In a moment, dear. Jareth I need a word with you," his father turned to look at him. "Sarah dear, will you excuse us for a moment?"

"Sure," Sarah made her way down the hall and turned a corner. The queen looked sternly at her husband.

"I'll be in the carriage."

As soon as the Queen left, his father started to speak.

"Now Jareth, we need to-"

"Please father I know. Time is short and please trust me I am handling this unfair arrangement," Jareth rushed his words out, annoyed.

"Son, please trust me. I know what I am doing," His father said.

"Forcing me into marriage in a time limit, which might devastate any chance I have at what I want, and you want me to lay all that right in your hands?" Jareth glared at his father. The King laid a hand on his son's shoulder.

"Yes, I do," He looked hard at his son for a moment, wanting to explain, but this was not the time for it. Not yet. "Goodnight son." The old king walked out the door to head home. Jareth stood there for a moment longer, and then decided to relocate Sarah. He strolled down the hall, heading for Sarah's room. Her door was slightly open. He knocked before pushing it all the way open.

"Sarah?" He leaned his head in.

"Come on," Sarah called to him. She had already changed into her nightdress, and was unpinning her hair in front of the vanity mirror. Jareth let himself in her room and walked up behind her. Sarah pulled the last of the pins out of her hair; it fell to her back lightly. Jareth picked up a strand and let it slide through his fingers.

"What did your father want?" Sarah asked yawning.

"Not much, just rambling," Jareth covered. "You are tired; I'll leave you to sleep." Sarah stood up and faced him. Tonight she wouldn't argue, she felt dead on her feet.

"Alright," Sarah agreed. She walked over to her bed and sat down on the edge. Jareth followed but remained standing. He traced her jaw line once before tilting her chin upwards. He leaned over and gave her a gentle kiss.

"Goodnight Sarah," He said, and left her room, shutting the door as he left.

~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~

Jareth was sound asleep, under his thick comforters. Sound asleep until he thought he heard his door slowly open. His back was facing the door, but he didn't turn over. He also kept his eyes closed, but he listened very carefully. He heard footsteps slowly walking towards him. Pausing a few times before they took another step. It took a minute, but the figure finally stood in front of him.

"Jareth...?"

His eyes snapped open to lock on the intruder. Sarah was knelt down on the floor at eye level with him. Jareth half sat himself up, putting his weight on his elbow. Sarah couldn't help but notice his shirtless top half.

"Sarah? What is it?" There must have only been a few hours till early morning.

"I can't sleep," She told him.

"Why?" He asked, rubbing his eyes. Sarah seemed to wait a minute before answering.

"I was worried about you," She leaned her elbows on the edge of his bed and folded her arms.

"Why about me?" He was a bit confused by her answer. Instead of answering, she reached her hand up to his collarbone and lightly traced around the deep scratch marks left by the devilish Colleen.

"I feel terrible," She confessed. Jareth sat up the rest the way and swung his legs over the side of the bed.

"Sarah, you have nothing to feel bad about. I handled it and this is nothing," He comforted her.

"I still feel bad," Sarah sighed.

"Oh Sarah," Jareth let out a breath. She had a good heart, she really did. She felt guilt over nothing at all, if she wasn't so bothered by it he may have laughed. He pulled her up on his lap and let her lay her head on his shoulder.

"Now, I want no more talk of this alright? Colleen is nothing to worry about anymore and you have nothing to feel bad over." He rolled them back on the bed and pulled Sarah close to him. She looked at him with bright eyes.

"Alright," She agreed.

Jareth kissed her softly. He pulled his hand through her hair and let it drift down her back. Sarah let out a sigh against Jareth's lips. He let his tongue slide over her lower lip, seekingly. Sarah parted her mouth and let him take control of the kiss. She felt him lay his leg across hers before shifting himself on top of her, never breaking the kiss. Sarah ran her hand along one of his perfectly sculpted arms. Jareth kissed her deeper before moving to her neck. Every few seconds he nipped at her skin, causing a sharp intake of breath on Sarah's part. He slid the shoulder of her nightdress off to continue kissing her. He pulled it down ever further, revealing her full breasts.

Sarah blushed deeply as he continued kissing her skin. He didn't stop until he reached her hips. Once there he pulled himself back up to kiss her lips once again. He pressed his body firmly against hers. Her chest pressing against him stirred a feeling in him that could get him into trouble. Sarah wrapped her arms around his neck. He slid a hand down her side and down to her thigh. He pulled her leg up to wrap around his waist, pressing himself into her. She let a quiet moan flow out of her lips.

Sarah had never been like this with anyone ever. Her dating experience left her little to compare to now. She blushed far too easily; she was probably bright red now. Jareth brought up a feeling in her she had never felt before, something elusive. Sarah wasn't sure what it was, but she knew Jareth was causing it. She loved the feeling of his lips on her skin. She still feared she may do something wrong though. Jareth seemed to catch on to her apprehensiveness.

"Are you alright?" Jareth pulled away from her reluctantly, his voice was weighed. He gazed into her eyes deeply searching for the answer.

"Yes, I'm fine," Sarah half lied. Jareth caressed her face, as if knowing the answer without her saying it. He slid himself off of her and rolled onto his side facing her. He wondered if she had ever been really serious with anyone. He was feeling particularly bold tonight, so he thought he would give it a shot.

"Sarah," He waited till she looked at him. "Have you ever been with anyone before?"

Shock seemed to spread across her face. Her cheeks went so hot Jareth could feel the heat radiating off her face. She also bit her lower lip, a habit of hers it seemed. He waited patiently for her answer.

"You mean like been?" She emphasized the last word. Jareth just nodded. "No..."

He smiled at her modesty, she was really something special. In his world most girls didn't even hold up to their sixteenth birthday. In Sarah's it seemed to be very similar, but Jareth expected it from Sarah. It would have surprised him immensely if she ever had been with someone. He just laughed to himself and pulled her closer. It wasn't long before the wave of sleep took them both over.

~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~

Terra strolled down the hall telling servants to take this to that room or that to this room. There was a bit of a mess to clean up but they had it almost done. She had gotten up early to see to it. The ballroom was now empty of all the decorations, table cloths and tables. Everything re-polished and shined like new. Terra liked keeping things in order. Suddenly her younger sister came\ around the corner.

"Good morning Lynnett, have fun last night?" Terra cheerily asked her little sibling.

"Not really, I stayed for a minute but then I went to go play with Lydia. The dances are no fun for me," She complained.

"Well when you're a bit older-"

"Where is Sarah?" Lynnett interrupted.

"What do you mean?" Terra asked raising an eyebrow. "She is asleep in her room isn't she?"

"No, I went in there a little while ago to ask her if she wanted to go get breakfast. She wasn't in her room though, I asked Lydia and she hasn't seen her this morning either," Lynnett stared up at her sister. "I thought she might be with you."

Terra didn't want to worry; Sarah was probably walking around or something, still. Terra walked down the hall to Sarah's room, she opened the door without knocking. She found the room empty, her bed neatly made. She also checked in Sarah's bathroom and closet. She then headed down to the dining hall, no one there either. This was nothing to get worried about, but Terra felt a hint of anxiety start to fall on her. She looked in the drawing room, the library, everywhere she could think of. Sarah was nowhere to be found. It wasn't like Sarah to not show up anywhere. She headed to her brother's room to ask him to help her look.

"Jareth?" She knocked on the door. It wasn't like her brother to sleep in late. After of minute or so, no one answered, so she opened the door and stepped inside.

"Jare-" Terra froze and stopped herself from saying another word. He brother was still asleep, but with Sarah snuggled right next to him. She had noticed something going on between them that much was obvious for someone living here. But she was extremely curious about what led to this. She looked over them again; Sarah was pulled into the curve of her brother. He seemed to have a comfortable hold on her, both of them breathing in and out easily. Terra decided to step out before her brother woke up and saw her gawking at them in the door way. She closed the door silently behind her. She was off to going back to work; she would talk with Sarah later. At least this was a good sign.

~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~

Sarah awoke slowly, letting out a deep breath. She could feel Jareth's arm around her middle and his face in her hair. She glanced turning her head to look at the clock, it read eleven forty five.

"Yes a bit late hm?" Jareth spoke as if reading her thoughts.

"Sorry did I wake you up?" She yawned stretching her arms over her head.

"No, I was awake," He nuzzled her neck. Sarah relaxed her head back against the pillows. She could get used to this.

"Think we should get up for breakfast?" Sarah suggested. Jareth sighed heavily.

"I suppose, might be a good idea before they send out a search party," Jareth teased rolling out of bed. Sarah admired his body out of the corner of her eyes, he was sculpted perfectly. She pulled herself out of bed.

"I'm going to go change before we go down ok?" Sarah headed towards the door.

"I'll meet you down there."

~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~

Sarah quickly changed, ran a brush through her thick dark hair, and walked into the dining hall. Terra and Lynnett were already there. Terra looked up at her.

"Good morning Sarah," She greeted her politely, raising an eyebrow.

"Morning Terra, Lynnett," Sarah answered sitting down across from the two. The servants would be bringing in lunch now instead of breakfast. As soon as a goblin saw Sarah, it darted into the kitchen to tell the cook to get some more food going. Jareth hadn't arrived yet.

"Where were you this morning Sarah?" Lynnett looked at Sarah with big childlike eyes. "I looked everywhere for you."

"I..." Sarah tried to think.

"Yes Sarah," Terra put her elbows on the table and leaned forward, resting her chin in her hands. "Where were you?"

"Well I was..." Sarah couldn't think of anything to say, not really sure if she should tell them.

"Good morning," Jareth walked into the room dressed and ready for the day. Saved by the bell, he took a seat next to Sarah.

"Good morning indeed," Terra mumbled, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms. She scowled at Jareth interrupting.

"What was that Terra?" He eyed his sister.

"Nothing," She smiled innocently as food was brought out for them. Lynnett babbled on most the time, Jareth making a comment here or there. Terra ate slowly, looking back and forth between Sarah and her brother.

"...And then when I was running down the hall one of the goblins-"

"Sarah could you help me with something for a few minutes?" Terra interrupted.

"Sure," Sarah said, putting her fork and napkin down. They both stood up and walked out of the room, leaving the oldest and youngest siblings alone to finish their food. They walked silently up to Terra's room. As soon as Sarah walked in, Terra shut the door and dragged Sarah over to her bed to sit down.

"Talk," Terra commanded with a smile on her face. Sarah was a bit confused.

"Talk? About what?"

"You know what missy!" She lightly pushed Sarah's shoulder. After a minute of Sarah not saying anything, Terra explained. "Lynnett was looking for you this morning; she came to me to ask if I knew where you were. She said you were not in your room, so I checked there and everywhere else in the castle you might be. When I couldn't find you my worrying nature took over," She dramatically placed her forearm across her eyes. "So I went to Jareth's room to ask if he had seen you..." She shifted her eyes over at Sarah. Her face was deep red, so she got where Terra was going with this. "So, talk."

"Well..." Sarah looked at the thick white carpet, embarrassed. "I just couldn't sleep so I went in there to talk to him, and I felt really bad about what Colleen did to him."

"What she did to him?" Terra asked. "Did he tell you what happened?

"No, he just said they had a confrontation and I saw he got scratched," Sarah shrugged.

"Go figure, he sugar coats things sometimes," Sarah looked at her questioning. "Look don't tell him I told you but, well..." Terra seemed to be looking at something very far away, but nothing in the room. She didn't even blink. "I've never seen him act like that before. I followed him out of the ballroom when I saw him with Colleen; I was being kind of nosy. I hear them talking threw the door. He told her she wasn't welcomed here anymore and that he would hand her case over to the courts. Colleen told him they would do nothing to her." She paused for a moment, still staring blankly ahead. "And sadly she is right. They won't do anything. Jareth realized this too; he tried to control that temper of his. I stepped in about then and tried to get him to leave her be. He wasn't going to get anywhere. But then Colleen opened her big mouth as he was trying to leave and he just, snapped."

"Snapped?" Sarah asked.

"Yeah, he grabbed her by her neck and flung her into the wall, I thought he might choke her to death for a moment," Terra confessed lowly. "I have never seen him so angry in my whole life."

"What did Colleen say? When he was trying to leave?" Sarah leaned in a little closer. Terra broke her trance like stare and eyed Sarah before answering.

"She said he was just mad because what she said was true," Terra shook her head as she spoke. "Jareth knew it wasn't so he couldn't take her attitude I guess. But I think why he snapped like that was because it was about you."

Sarah looked at her lap now, Terra stared at her.

"My brother really cares for you Sarah. I know he does. If you could have seen him before you came here and now, the difference is amazing. He hardly came here unless someone called his attention, he always looked so," Terra searched for a word. "Empty. I often caught him staring at the sky at night, as is he was talking to the stars in his mind. Like he was wishing for something. I think after you left the first time, that's when it really hit him and ever since then he has been different. Now with you here, he is so much happier, he smiles more. He's been here for weeks and weeks on end. He has never stayed away from his castle this long. His temper hasn't gotten him into trouble like it used to."

Terra stopped to look at Sarah who was biting her lower lip. She decided to keep going on, Sarah needed to hear it.

"Jareth has been asked to marry a lot of other king's daughters, and everyone he has turned down. He didn't so much give them a second look. This has my brother and father on bad terms as you can imagine. It's very unusual to have a king and not have a queen." Sarah sighed heavily. "I want my brother to be happy, that's why I stood by him on his decisions, even though our Father was furious. But Sarah, with you I think he could be so very happy. I know how much he loves you." It wasn't a matter of 'if' it was 'how much'. "Somebody still loves you Sarah, and I don't think he would settle down with anyone else."

"Terra I..." Sarah started.

"I'm not asking you to hop, skip and jump into a marriage with my brother," She smiled. "I just wanted you to hear all of that."

~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~

Jareth was turned the corner to his hallway to find Terra leaning on his door. She had her arms crossed and smiled a very Jareth like smile.

"Can I help you with something?" He asked, approaching her.

"I think we need to talk," Terra answered politely. Jareth was about to question her, but his siblings were as stubborn as he was, so they never got very far. He opened the door and then sat down in two high backed chairs in front of his fireplace.

"Well?" He asked, sitting back in the chair. Terra repeated the story of not knowing where Sarah was and continued on till she talked about how she went to Jareth's room to ask him if he had seen her. Jareth raised an eyebrow.

"So when you didn't answer, I opened the door," Terra shot him an accusing but sisterly look. "Don't you think you are moving things a little fast?"

Jareth didn't even pretend to not know what his sister was talking about. Maybe he was trying to rush things, but with his time quickly falling away, what else could he do.

"Nothing happened Terra," He held his hands out palms up. "She couldn't sleep."

"I'm just saying Jareth, it seems like you are trying to hurry things along. I saw that necklace she was wearing," Terra pointed out the owl necklace Sarah still wore even this morning. "What aren't you telling me?"

Jareth didn't want to lie to his sister, no that was a bad idea. They have never lied to each other before over anything before, now was not a good time to start. He sighed heavily and put his hand over his eyes.

"Six months," He simply stated.

"Six months? What are you talking about?" Terra pressed, knowing she was getting her answer.

"Father has given me six months to find a bride, or he will sign the papers to make Colleen my wife," He spat the girl's name as if it were poison.

"Poppy-cock! Father would never sign you over to the wretched little brat," Terra accused.

"I don't understand why either," He locked eyes with his sibling. "Something is going on he is not telling me. He wants this done no matter who it is."

"So if you don't marry in six months..." Terra began to fathom the horror that life would be with Colleen as a sister in law, even more horrible for Jareth to be stuck with her. She saw the all seriousness in her brother's face.

"Oh Jareth..." She sighed. "Why didn't you tell me about this sooner?"

"I don't know," He confessed. "Now you see why I have to be so persistent."

"Sarah doesn't...?

"No, she doesn't know. I'm not sure whether to tell her or not," He shook his head.

"Well it's bound to come up some time or another. I think it's best to tell her before she finds out from someone else," Terra put a caring hand on her brothers shoulder.

"I fear it would scare her away from me," The sadness could not be hidden in his voice.

~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~

Sarah had spent the remainder of the day with Lynnett. The little girl never seemed to tire of the same old games. She liked dressing up a lot, or reading, drawing. Sarah tried to teach her solitaire, but she never really caught on. Dinner soon came and they headed downstairs, Terra and Jareth were already seated. They ate and talked lightly about random things. Nothing of really any importance. Terra excused herself from dinner early, for what reason no one really knew.

"I think it's time I head back to the goblin city to check up on a few things," Jareth said.

"Really?" Sarah asked around a mouth full.

"Yes," Jareth leaned back in his chair. "I was wondering if you would like to go as well."

Sarah looked up at him. Back to the goblin city, that would be one hell of a memory alert. She wondered how much had changed since then if anything.

"I want to go with Sarah too," Lynnett gave her brother puppy dog eyes.

"Not this time Lynnett," He said calmly. "Well Sarah? We would only be gone a few days."

"Well..." She looked a bit uneasy for a moment. She had really never even left the castle here, so maybe it would be a good thing to get out some. "Alright."

"Wonderful, we leave first thing in the morning," Jareth smiled warmly. Sarah just nodded dumbly. She had a feeling this was going to be strange. They finished dinner and kept themselves busy for the next little while. Soon Lynnett was ready for bed and her nightly reading. Again the girl fell asleep before she could hear the end. Jareth escorted Sarah back to her room. They lingered in the door way.

"So should I start packing some things?" Sarah asked.

"No, the servants will have you ready to go by morning," Jareth confirmed. Sarah looked at Jareth for a long moment. Something didn't seem the same. His eyes seemed a little less bright, his smile not as convincing. He almost looked sad, almost.

"Jareth? Is everything ok?" She asked sincerely. He waited for almost a full minute before answering.

"Fine. Everything is fine."

"Jareth..." Sarah started to press it.

"Sarah?" Terra poked her head around the corner. Sarah sighed heavily knowing she couldn't argue about it now.

"Goodnight Sarah," Jareth whispered, kissing her on the cheek before leaving. He mumbled goodnight to Terra as she walked past him. Neither Sarah nor Terra spoke until Jareth was out of sight.

"What's the matter with him?" Sarah asked Terra.

"I don't know," Terra lied smoothly. Terra stepped into the bed room, Sarah did as well and shut the door.

"So what's up?" Sarah asked from her closet, changing into her nightdress.

"Just wandered if you were ready for your trip tomorrow," She fiddled with a piece of her hair.

"How did you know?" Sarah asked as she walked of her closet, buttoning the top button of her dress.

"I couldn't help but overhear," Terra smirked.

"Go figure," Sarah plopped down on her bed.

~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~

"Dear, it's time you told him. Surely he wouldn't be so mad if he only knew," Queen Gizelle wrapped an arm around her husband. They were both laying in bed, the King in deep thought. The King cradled his wife against his chest.

"I don't want him to worry; I want to give him a chance at happiness. Even if there is a time limit," King Blaine sighed out.

"But he is so angry with you, I can tell. He has even turned from me some. We normally hear from him every few days. Now only on our own accord do we even get to speak with him," Jareth's mother pleaded softly. He was their oldest child and only son; still she worried about him just as much as the others.

"In due time dear," He soothed his wife. "All in due time.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Wow, the snow storm killed my internet for a few days. But haza! I am back. Please review =]

Thanks also to my lovely Beta Reader! 3


	9. Return To The Goblin City

Chapter Nine

Return to the Goblin City

"Not what you were expecting?"-Jareth

~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~

Sarah awoke the next morning to some sort of commotion. She sat straight up out of bed, her blurry eyes searching for the noise. She rubbed her eyes and locked them onto her closet. Lydia was there with a small group of goblins. They seemed to be carrying out cases of clothes out of her closet. Lydia glanced up at Sarah.

"Well good mornin' Miss Sarah, I hope you'll be brushin' that hair of yours before you're off," Lydia teased. Sarah had seen her hair in the mornings, sometimes it wasn't very pretty. Sarah stretched lazily and swung herself out of bed.

"Do I really need to take all of this?" Sarah asked as the little goblins marched out of her closets with box after box of cloths. Lydia just shrugged.

"Ya never know."

"When are we leaving?" Sarah asked as she sat down at her vanity and began combing her hair.

"As soon as you are ready I believe," Lydia put her hands on her hips as she always seemed to do. "Everythin' else is ready to go."

"What would they do without you Lydia?" Sarah smiled.

"They wouldn't be doin' much o' anything, that's what they's be doin'!" She scowled. "Why they all would lose their heads 'round here if they weren't attached..." Lydia babbled on while the goblins finished the work. As soon as the goblins cleared the way, along with Lydia, Sarah changed into her clothes for the day. It was a simple maroon long dress; the sleeves came about three quarters of the way down her arm. Some simple lace around the trim of the dress made it look not too boring. She made her way down to the dining hall where breakfast was just being brought out. She sat down quickly; Terra looked up from her conversation with her brother.

"You're stuck with us I'm afraid," Terra sighed dramatically. Sarah gave her a puzzled look and turned to Jareth.

"My sister is very persuasive," Jareth slightly frowned.

"So I'm not going?" Sarah asked.

"Of course you are," Jareth started. "Just now..."

"We get to go too!" Lynnett smiled triumphantly. Sarah looked over at Jareth who just shrugged.

"Siblings..."

~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~

Soon Terra and Lynnett were packed as well and everything was loaded into two elegant carriages. Both were drawn by the 'horses' Sarah had met a while back. Lydia double checked everything and ran over a few things with Terra. Lynnett tugged on her brother's sleeve.

"Why aren't we just teleporting there like always?" She asked mildly.

"Well Lynnett it's a lot of people, and you know how that will wear me out. Also I thought Sarah might like to see a bit of the scenery," Jareth told her. That was a good enough answer for Lynnett, who just nodded and climbed into one of the carriages. Sarah couldn't help but over hear the conversation.

"You normally teleport?" Sarah asked curiously. "It makes you tired?"

"I'll explain on the way there, we have a long ride so there will be time," Jareth confirmed.

"Everyone all set?" Terra asked, buttoning up the top button on her long winter cloak. Sarah pulled her cloak around her more tightly.

"I believe so," Jareth nodded and looked at Sarah who also nodded.

"Off we go then," Terra turned and climbed into the same carriage as Lynnett. Jareth held open the door to the other one and handed Sarah in. He climbed in as well, sitting beside her. The footman outside the carriage gave a quick command and the horses started trotting off. Sarah glanced around the inside of the carriage. There was the seat she and Jareth were sitting in but also plenty of room still on the back.

"Why did we take two carriages?" Sarah asked.

"It's about a day and a half ride there if we go non-stop, it would be pretty hard to sleep four people in a carriage. Plus Terra snores like a troll." He smiled.

The first few hours Sarah and Jareth kept a light conversation going. Sarah looked out the window a lot though. It seemed there was nothing but forest for miles and miles. A forest covered in snow. She was about to ask why the plants were still growing, it was still winter, but it was the Underground. Nothing much else needed to be said. It was interesting to see all the different plants and such. Some things appeared to be growing sideways or upside down. The colors on some of the leaves and petals didn't seem to match anything aboveground. It was hard to get a good look at anything though with how fast they were going.

"Ah here we are..." Jareth said calmly, nodding in the out his window. Sarah looked over to his side and saw a break in the trees up ahead. As soon as they pasted the tree line there was a valley with hills covered in lush green poking out from the snow. You could see very clearly a Castle setting on the top of one of the hills, it wasn't as big as the castle Sarah was currently living at but it was still grand.

"Who lives there?' Sarah asked leaning a little closer to the window to get a better look.

"That would be Queen Teaila, a widow and the only kingdom without a king," Jareth informed her. Sarah didn't ask any more questions, just observed. As the day went on Jareth pulled out a well packed box of food, no doubt packed by Lydia. It must have been around dinner time anyways. The two snacked for a moment before they started to go through a small town. People seemed to move off the streets quickly, allowing the carriages to go through. Some people bowed their heads while other just lowered their eyes. If people was the right word for it, there were some goblins, Sarah could tell, but also many other creatures.

The carriage came to a halt, one of the horses let out a sigh.

"What are we doing?" Sarah asked as she saw the villagers of the town glanced at them through the window and whispered to one another.

"We are stopping long enough to let the horses eat and get some water. You might also want to get out and stretch your legs," Jareth recommended. He opened the carriage door and climbed out, offering a hand to Sarah. She stepped out as well into the cold air. Jareth straightened out his coat while Sarah pulled her fur lined hood up. She hoped it would give her some shielding from the eyes on her. Terra and Lynnett walked around their carriage to meet them.

"Well there is no point of standing out here in here in the cold," Terra hinted. Jareth just nodded and led them towards the establishment they had stopped in front of. The footmen were tending to the horses. It looked to Sarah like something of a tavern. Everyone went hushed when the four walked in. Jareth calmly walked over to one of the tables and pulled a chair out. He indicated with his eyes that Sarah should sit here. He sat next to her while the sisters sat on the other side of the table.

Sarah couldn't help but overhear the word 'human' floating around the room. Couldn't everyone just get over the human thing? Sarah glanced around the room, getting a better look at the creatures. The creature that seemed closest to a human was sitting at the bar with a few other of its kind. There was even a child it seemed there, it stared at her with wide eyes. Sarah just gave a kind of half smile, the kind you give someone's kid at a restaurant when they stare at you all through dinner. They were closest to human looking though, out of everyone.

Their hair was long and straight, pulled back away from their faces in elaborate braids or twist. Even the men had long hair. Their skin tones were very pale, almost white. She only had a side view of the beings but she could tell their eyes no matter what color were bright and shown with highlights. Almost as if they were glowing. They all were very slim and wore layers of silk fabrics of earth tones. The child was still starring at her. It tugged the shoulder of the adult sitting next to it and whispered something in its ear. The adult glanced over at Sarah before answering whatever the child had asked.

A short man with an apron on walked over to the table, he looked a bit nervous as he started to speak.

"Good evening, Your Majesty," He bowed a low bow. "I am Clice, the owner of the tavern. Is there anything I can get you?"

Jareth looked around at everyone, Terra and Lynnett shook their heads no, he looked at Sarah.

"I'm fine," She said. She couldn't help but noticed the waiter half way gawking at her. Jareth ordered himself some kind of alcoholic drink. As the man went back around the bar he spoke just loud enough for Sarah to catch it,

"See I told you it was the human girl!"

Sarah put her elbow on the table and rested her chin in her hand, annoyed. She glanced back over across the room at the child still staring at her. Jareth seemed to notice the child staring too.

"Those are Elves," Jareth answered her unspoken question quietly, he was almost whispering. "They are exceptionally well equipped creatures. They can see miles away, speak to any animal, are nimble as can be and have an impenetrable sense of hearing. As I speak to you now they can hear every word whether they are listening or not."

Sarah's eyes drifted back over to the little girl who was smiling back at her, obviously Jareth was right.

"Now over there, those are Nymphs," Jareth pointed with his eyes. "There seem to be an assortment of them, but you can tell them apart pretty easily. There are forest, water, fire and air nymphs." Jareth went on about the different kind of groups. His eyes soon locked on the far corner of the room.

"Those Sarah," His lips were almost at her ear. "Those you never want to be around. Ever. They are nothing but trouble." Sarah looked at the corner were three creatures sat together. Their eyes were dark and shifty. It reminded her of shark eyes. They had a sickly color of skin, almost purple with a hint of yellow, like a bruise. They all had black hair, all above shoulder length. They were dressed in all black and seemed to have a sinister feel about them.

"Who are they?"

"Those are Obayifo's. Terrible creatures, they live by sucking the life out of anything they can get their hands on. Animals, other creatures, they don't even stop themselves from children. They have no pity or compassion for anything other than their own kind," Jareth explained never taking his eyes off them. "They also can do something very few Fae's can even do. They can enter the bodies of anything living thing and possess them."

"Your drink Your Highness," The man had brought Jareth his drink, putting an end to the conversation. Sarah looked on at the Obayifo's, even though she knew she was safe with Jareth, Terra and Lynnett, fear was grabbing a hold of her for some reason. Terra struck up a conversation with her brother. Sarah was about to look away from the dark creatures when one of them looked up and locked its dark eyes with hers.

Sarah didn't know what to do; she couldn't pull her gaze away from it, she was almost afraid to blink. It just stared at her, almost as if it were trying to look into her mind. Sarah felt her heart rate pick up; her breath seemed caught in her throat. The creature slowly pulled a smile onto it face revealing a sharp row of teeth, its face was the definition of malicious. As if almost every creature under the roof could hear Sarah heart slamming against her chest, everyone hushed and turned to look at her.

Jareth put a hand on her shoulder, causing her to rip away from its stare.

"Sarah, Are you alright?" He asked quickly. He glanced behind her to the now empty table were the three Obayifo's were sitting moments ago. Sarah seemed to mentally shake herself.

"Yeah, I'm fine," She pulled her eyebrows together in thought. Everyone slowly went back to whatever they were doing before. Sarah dared to look back at the table where they were sitting, still empty, good. She turned herself back towards the table to find Terra, Lynnett and Jareth looking at the little elf girl standing there next to Sarah.

"So your name is Sarah?" She asked curiously. Before Sarah could say anything, what appeared to the girl's father flew up out of his seat and over to his daughter, pulling her away from the table.

"Nadia! I'm sorry Your Majesty," He bowed low and stayed like that as he talked. "Forgive my daughter for intruding, I shouldn't of let her out of my sight I-" Jareth raised a hand for the man to stop speaking.

"She wasn't intruding, I believe she was only asking a question right Sarah?" Jareth purposely made Sarah give the call. Again the whole room seemed to be watching. After all it was every day that the Goblin King was here, much less with a human.

"Right," Sarah confirmed. The father stood straight up releasing his daughter who took a step closer to Sarah.

"So it's Sarah," The little girl stated. "I'm Nadia," She smiled brightly. Her eyes were a silver blue color and were as bright as the moon. She couldn't have been maybe as old as Lynnett.

"It's nice to meet you," Sarah smiled back. Nadia looked at Sarah for a moment.

"So you really are a human?"

"Nadia!" Her father scolded. Jareth just looked up at the Elven man, silencing him with his stare.

"Yeah, all human," Sarah held out her hands palms up as if it would prove something. Nadia put her hand out against Sarah's, she matched their hands up evenly.

"They scare you don't they?" The elfish girl stated it more then asked. Sarah didn't know what to say. Everyone at the tabled focused in on Sarah and the girl. Nadia's father stood stiff like at any minute his daughter would say something that would get him into trouble. "The Obayifo's."

"Well..."

"I heard your heart beating so fast, and you didn't breathe right for a minute," The elf pulled her hand away from Sarah's to unclasp something from her wrist. "Here..."

Nadia clasped a bracelet around Sarah's left wrist. It was made of a thin string with sparkling gems weaved into it, there was one large stone in the center that matched the color of the girls eyes. Sarah looked over it carefully. Everyone looked quizzically at Nadia.

"This was my good luck charm I got the first time they came to our village. I used to be afraid of them the first time I saw them," She smiled warmly. "Now they arn't around our village as much. Looks like you need it more than I do."

Sarah looked at the bracelet again, then back up to the little girl, she still had the priceless smile on her face.

"Thank you Nadia," Sarah paused for a moment. "Wait right here..." Sarah got up from the table and headed towards the door. Jareth was about to follow her when the Nadia's father got up to move over to the door, as if he read Jareth's thoughts.

"Allow me your Majesty," He walked over to the door to keep an eye on Sarah. She was digging through something in the back of one of the carriages. She found what she was looking for and walked back in and over to the table. She pinned a small hair piece into Nadia's hair. It was silver with crown on it; the crown had three small sparkling gems.

"That's one of my favorite hair clips. I was wearing it when I uh, came here," She didn't want to go into that story. "I wore them almost every day, back home."

Nadia admired the reflection of the clip in Jareth's glass.

"Wow thank you," Nadia smiled.

"Thank you," Sarah tapped the bracelet on her wrist. "I'm sure this will help."

She just nodded and bounced off back to her seat, he father giving a bow before going after her. The Elves began conversing quietly.

"Aw that was so sweet," Terra sighed.

"It's pretty," Lynnett commented.

The footmen walked in and told them that the horses were ready to go. Jareth finished up his drink and paid the man, leaving him a good tip. The little girl gave them one more wave as they headed out the door and loaded up into the carriages again.

They passed a few more town here and then, but didn't bother to stop. The horses wouldn't need to stop till morning, Jareth told her. She wondered how long they could go without sleep. The sun started to set, casting golden rays over the valleys and hills. Soon it was too dark to see anything outside. Suddenly the candles on the walls of the carriage sprang to life, giving off a soft glow.

"Hey you never told me about the teleport thing," Sarah yawned.

"No I suppose I didn't," Jareth said. Sarah looked at him expectantly. "Well as I'm sure you know, I can teleport myself around pretty easily for the most part. Now I can also teleport someone else if they are with me, but it becomes tiring. Even if I use my magic too much with just moving myself place to place can make me a bit worse for wear. The more people, the more magic that has to be used. If I use too much at once, it takes longer for it to regenerate itself so to speak. It never gets to the point where I render myself helpless, but it's a very uncomfortable feeling. Like your missing something."

"So..." Sarah thought for a moment. "You can run out of magic?"

"Technically speaking, yes. But it has never happened to me and I don't intend to let it," He stated.

Sarah just nodded and accepted his answer. The moon hung high in the sky by now and the night seemed to shed a new personality on the lands around them. Everything looked so different, the tree's seemed to be moving, whispers could be heard. Sarah hoped she was just hearing the wind. She glanced at Jareth who seemed oblivious to the new sights and sounds, then again, he was probably used to it.

"You look tired," Jareth spoke up. He noticed Sarah yawning every few minutes and she kept trying to get comfortable.

"I am a little I guess," Sarah confessed. It wasn't very late but riding in the carriage reminded her of a long car trip at home, they just made you tired.

"Why don't you go lay down in the back?" Jareth suggested. "There should be a blanket and a pillow somewhere. Sarah didn't argue and crawled over the seat to the back. She found the neatly folded blanket and soft pillow and made her makeshift bed.

"What about you?" Sarah asked. "Are you going to be comfortable?"

"I'll be fine," Jareth answered leaning against the wall of the carriage.

"Don't you want a blanket or anything?" Sarah couldn't help but notice as the night fell, it brought a chill into the carriage.

"I'm afraid I only brought one," Jareth yawned. "I don't need it though, go to sleep Sarah."

"But it's getting cold in here," Sarah stated.

"I'm alright Sarah, now get some sleep," Jareth closed his eyes, finding himself more tired than he thought. He heard some shuffling about from where Sarah was. Next thing he knew she was leaning against him, pulling some of the blanket over him. He thought he heard her mumble 'stubborn' or something along those lines. He moved his arm to rest around her. Sleep over took him before any other thoughts could invade his mind.

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Sarah awoke, the sun shining in her face. She sighed heavily and turned her face away from the light. She found herself in a more horizontal position then when she fell asleep. Jareth was laying almost flat on his back, Sarah lay half on top of him, his arm was still locked around her. She tried to sit up carefully, but he woke up as well as soon as his arm slipped from her waist. His eyes snapped open.

"Sorry," Sarah apologized as they sat up.

"We should be there in a few hours," He informed her lightly as she stretched.

They carried on talking a bit, Sarah glancing out the window every few minutes. Finally something in the distance caught her eye. She put her face closer to the glass to look out. There was the Labyrinth. Sarah stared at it in deep thought. She wasn't sure what feelings it was bringing to her, something in the mix of anger, sadness and discomfort.

Jareth seemed to pick up on Sarah's sudden mood change, not that he hadn't been expecting it. He wasn't very sure of what she would feel about it but he knew she would be confused at least. They drew nearer to the kingdom, the horses picking up speed.

"What's with the horses?" Sarah asked turning away from the Labyrinth. She seemed a bit alarmed and sunk back in her seat. The horses were taking off now at a breakneck speed.

"We are taking a bit of a shortcut," He informed her, not seeming concerned with the speed they were going.

Sarah looked out the window at the blurs going past them. One second the sun was shining over the hills, the next it was total darkness. She could hear the echo from the horses running almost as if they were in a cave or tunnel of some sort. She felt a hand grab hers knowing it was Jareth. She wondered if he could see her wide eyed stare in the darkness. Then after a few moments, daylight burst back around them again. Sarah clear saw now the gates of the Goblin City opening up loudly.

She wasn't expecting what met her eyes. Instead of the dirt streets, shack houses and dust, the city was far different now. The houses almost looked like little cottages, the streets were cobble stones, and flowers grew in window boxes. The sky seemed bluer, not as dreary. She saw some goblins out and about on the streets, some waves happily as the carriages rode by.

"Not what you were expecting?" Jareth asked her with a smirk.

"Not exactly..." She mumbled still taking in the Goblin City.

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Jareth handed Sarah out of the carriage as his sisters came over to meet them.

"That took forever..." Lynnett mumbled under her breath. It didn't go unnoticed by either of her older siblings.

"Not long at all, hm Lynnett?" Jareth raised an eyebrow at Sarah who seemed to catch the joke.

The footmen started unloading the bags, goblins coming out of the castle as well help. They eyed Sarah curiously as they passed her. Jareth nudged her forward.

"How about a proper tour of the castle?"

While the others unpacked, Jareth led Sarah around the enormous castle. It was almost as big as the family castle; it wasn't at all what Sarah remembered. Just like the City, the castle seemed to have had a transformation as well. Carpets ran along the halls and stairs, chandlers hung in most of the rooms. It was like the other castle with a bit more of a medieval twist on it. The throne room was spotless, and seemed redecorated completely. The only thing remaining the same in that room was the throne itself.

Jareth showed her up to her room where she would be staying for the time and for whenever she was here. He led her down the twisting hallways to a more secluded part of the castle. There was a long hall with three doors lined up on either side. Jareth opened the middle door to reveal her room to her.

"Wow..." Sarah muttered stepping in after Jareth. The room had a high ceiling, a small chandelier handing in the center. The floor was carpeted in a deep maroon. There was a fireplace as tall as Sarah facing the bed covered in a thick silver and maroon comforter. There was also a window in the corner of the room with a reading seat. Two tall doors opened up into a balcony with two chairs sitting cozily facing outwards. Another door was on the far side of the room, Sarah could see it was a bath room. The decor had a feminine touch to it.

"Like it?" Jareth asked knowing the answer.

"It's amazing," She admitted. Before anyone else could speak and cheery voice popped out of nowhere.

"Have a nice trip?" Sarah turned around to find Falken leaning in the doorway smiling warmly.

"I wondered when you would show up," Jareth greeted his friend.

"Well now that your here I don't have to play boss anymore. Sadly I'm a follower," Falken stood up straight.

"Oh joy," Jareth replied in a bored tone.

"My Lady," Falken lowered his head slightly. "Enjoy the ride here?"

"Yes, it was something else," Sarah answered.

The three talked for a while before heading down the Jareth's dining hall to meet up with the girls. Terra and Lynnett were sitting down at the table already covered in food. Jareth sat at the head of the table, Sarah to his left, Falken to his right. Lynnett quickly moved seats to sit next to Sarah while Terra took the empty seat next to Falken.

"Well it's not going to eat itself," Lynnett smiled as she dug into her favorite food. It was a pretty relaxed dinner, everyone settling in quickly. Falken gave Jareth an update of what has been going on around the City. Sarah tried to listen in too since technically half of it was hers. She really felt like she wasn't doing much at all to help.

"Sounds like the same old, same old to me," Jareth said taking a drink of his wine. All through dinner Sarah would see something skim across the doorway quickly. She assumed it was the goblins, she knew there would be a lot more of them here. After dinner they went to what seemed to be a small library and all sat down with some wine or tea. It was almost like the study back at the family castle.

After a while, Falken needed to speak to Jareth about something, Terra wanted to get a bath and change, Lynnett wanted to go play, leaving Sarah to herself. Once everyone was gone she decided to do a bit more exploring. She wandered through the dark halls. It wasn't this dark back at the other castle, strange.

Sarah continued to roam around the castle, passing numerous goblins who starred as she went by. She found rooms upon rooms filled with nothing but books. She opened a few, but most were in some kind of writing she couldn't read.

Sarah lingered in this room for a while, picking up a dust book here or there and opening its stiff pages. As she skimmed threw the shelves one book caught her eyes. It was a tall hardbound book. It bear no title, no marking on the outside, just a plain brown colored book. She opened it to revel yet again a book in an unfamiliar language. This one had pictures though, hand draw in. She flipped threw a few pages trying to disappear the story. She started at the beginning.

The first picture she saw a castle with various creatures. She could tell the Fae's by the eyes. The next page showed a family, the parents, a young boy, a daughter and a baby. It only took Sarah a few moments to recognize this as Jareth, Terra, Lynnett and their parents. She turned a few pages next to see a human boy, maybe a year or two younger than her. The next few pictures showed the boy discovering the wonders of the Labyrinth. She skipped a few pages to find the same boy, back home, Aboveground. She flipped for a few pages, not seeing any more drawings. Then one came up, it seemed to be the high king. He seemed to be holding a list of some sort. There was also an old man standing in the background of the drawing.

"..The old wise man..." Sarah mumbled to herself. Soon this story was making sense to her, for the most part. It seemed to be the story Terra had told her when she first got here. The one about the only other human ever to come here, the human boy that was put to death.

Sarah flipped quickly through the pages. It showed the boy a few more times, then him standing before the high king. Sarah slowly turned the next page to see the image of the boy with a sword threw his chest. The details held nothing back. She quickly snapped the book shut, not wanted to see another picture.

"Sarah?" Jareth's voiced echoed from down the hall. Sarah slid the book back into place, keeping a mental note of where it was. She walked closer to the door to see Jareth coming down the hall.

"Ah, there you are," Jareth said walking closer to her. He eyed the room behind her for a moment.

"Sorry I was just looking around a little more," Sarah explained not wanted to bring up her find.

"Yes well I'm not sure what you would find of interest in there. Nothing is written in English in that room," He stated leading her away from it. Sarah decided to press her luck.

"Why? What kind of books are they?" She asked curiously. Jareth seemed to pause before answering.

"It's the history of the ruling families, written personality by the kings scribes," Jareth stated simply.

"Sounds interesting to me," Sarah hinted. Jareth didn't bite.

"Maybe one day when you learn to read our language, I'll show you a few."

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Just a little while later Sarah found herself relaxing in a hot bath. She assumed everyone else was asleep, it was late. That book weighed heavily on her mind. There were just a few pieces of it she couldn't seem to put together. Well one in particular, the list the king was holding. Now that Jareth had told it that room was where the history of the ruling families were kept, she was sure it was Jareth's family. So what was the list Jareth's father was holding? She wished she could read the text so she could get a better understanding of what was going in the book.

The water in the over sized tub seemed to grow colder by the minute, so Sarah decided to get out. She dried off quickly and changed into one of her long nightdresses that was brought and already hung up in the closets, along with her other clothes. She combed out her hair and was about to crawl into bed when there was a tap on the door

"Come in," Sarah called lightly. Jareth stepped into her room.

"Just making sure you are settled in," He said glancing around her room. "Terra and Lynnett are already asleep."

"Oh," Sarah replied. "Yeah I'm fine I have everything I need."

"Well if you need anything I am right down the hall, or you can ring for one of the goblins," Jareth leaned back against the wall. "Something the matter Sarah?"

"What?" She sat straight up. "No I'm fine." She lied smoothly; she didn't really want to tell Jareth she had found that book. It made her feel like she was snooping, well guess she kind of was.

"You have just been quiet it seems is all," He came over and sat across from her in a chair.

"Just tired from the ride I guess," She supplemented. Jareth nodded, buying her lie.

"That's understandable."

They sat in silence for a moment before Sarah spoke up.

"So what do your parents do in their kingdom?" Sarah asked acting as if it was just conversation. Jareth seemed intrigued at her question but answered it all the same.

"Pretty much the same thing we do here, only a bit busier," Jareth stiffened a yawn.

"But he's the high king, doesn't anything work differently for him?" Sarah pried a bit more.

"He still has his responsibilities and rules to follow."

"Rules?"

"Yes even the kings have rules," Jareth confirmed. Sarah was about to ask what they were but didn't want any suspicion to rise, so she decided against it for the time. She changed the topic.

"The city sure isn't what I expected. It's..." Sarah glanced out her window and she could see the soft glow from the houses in the city. "Really nice."

"Well I'm glad you like it," Jareth leaned back in his chair. Sarah wanted badly to ask more questions about his father or the book, but knew she couldn't. Not if she wanted to know the truth.

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Colleen paced her room for hours on end, every day. She wasn't a very patient girl, not at all. He father decided to drop in on her for a chat. He opened the door to find her grumbling at herself.

"Colleen dearest," He stepped into his daughter's room. "You really mustn't worry like this."

"Yes, I must. It's this stupid girls fault! I get her upset and they banish me," She sat down and crossed her arms.

"That may be true dear but if it weren't for the girl, things wouldn't work out well later," He smirked at his daughter. She raised her eyebrows at him, intrigued to know what was going on.

"Something that will get me closer to Jareth?" She asked slowly.

"Dear, just a few more months you'll have everything you could ever want," He promised his daughter. "Child, I believe I need your help with something."

~*~*~*~*~~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Here are those cliff hangers you all looooove so much. Thanks always to my dearly beloved Beta reader 3333333 Please review!


	10. Heidi and The Book

Heidi and The Book.

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The next morning Sarah awoke to a knock on the door, just as she swung her legs over the side of the bed, someone walked in. There was a girl that looked about fifteen or so, her hair was pulled back with a few straggles hanging down. She had on a long blue dress with a white apron and a bandana tied around her hair. She also carried a basket of what looked to be cleaning supplies.

"Good Morning," She curtsied quickly. "I'm sorry I thought you would be up by now, if you want I'll leave and come back later."

"No, it's alright," Sarah stood up. "I was getting up anyways, don't let me throw off your schedule."

The girl went to work right away as if Sarah wasn't there. Sarah went to change and came back out to find the girl cleaning off the windows. She seemed to be working quickly, avoiding Sarah's eye contact.

"Need help with anything?" Sarah offered. The girl paused for a second as if Sarah had shot her before going back to her work.

"Of course not Miss," She lowered her head. Sarah sat at her vanity, brushing out her hair. She eyed the girl in the mirror.

"So how long have you worked here?" Sarah tried to strike up a conversation to break the awkward silence. The girl jumped at Sarah's voice.

"For a few months," She answered shortly. Well this wasn't working too well. Sarah continued to ask questions trying to get a friendly conversation going, but the girl gave just the basic answer without hesitation. She cleaned quickly, almost nervously.

"Well you know my name, what's yours?" Sarah asked.

"Heidi."

Sarah was about to ask some other random question but her door opened, Lynnett standing there. She wore a golden colored dress today, with little white flowers patterned all over it.

"Are you coming down for breakfast Sarah?" The little girl asked smiling as always.

"Just leaving now," Sarah stood up and followed Lynnett out into the hall.

"What's the matter with the maid in there?" Sarah asked quietly. Lynnett thought for a moment.

"Oh you mean Heidi? I don't know what's the matter with her?" Lynnett asked curiously.

"Well she just seemed to be in a hurry and wouldn't talk much," Sarah explained.

"Hm, maybe what my brother said I guess," She shrugged.

"What did he say?" Sarah asked raising a brow.

"Just to make sure anything you wanted was giving to you without hesitation, that the guards were to be in top form, your word is to be followed like his would, all that stuff," Lynnett mumbled.

So everyone had to listen to her as they did for Jareth, hm? Interesting. Sarah wasn't used to giving any kind of orders, but since she had the power to do so, maybe she could get someone who could read to her.

The girls went downstairs to eat breakfast with everyone else. Terra suggested maybe going to the Marketplace right outside the city walls for some shopping. Lynnett seemed tangled up playing with the goblins and Jareth said today he needed to catch up on some paper work, so Sarah agreed.

"Can I hope you two may need an escort?" Falken piped in out of nowhere.

"Good morning," Sarah smiled.

"Good morning my ladies," He bowed and smiled his tooth paste commercial winning smile.

"Morning Falken," Terra answered. "You can come if you like but you'll be nothing but the bag boy I'm afraid." Terra smiled and crossed her arms.

"Wouldn't have it any other way," Falken answered.

"Alright then, let me run upstairs and get my coin pouch and we'll be off. I'll meet you two at the stable," Terra proceeded to head upstairs. Sarah and Falken made their way down to the stable to ready a carriage.

"So they have shops here and everything?" Sarah broke the silence.

"Sure do, shops for dresses, shoes, jewelry, everything you could think of," Falken answered pulling two coats off a coat rack that hung by the door. He handed one to Sarah. He opened the door for her and followed her outside. It was a bit warmer here it seemed. There was no snow on the ground but still cool. It almost felt like autumn. Falken whistled over a nearby goblin and instructed him to ready a carriage right away for the trip. The goblin hopped right over to the stale calling for a few others to come help as well.

"So how often does Terra and Lynnett visit Jareth here?" Sarah asked.

"Well they used to come all the time. It's been the last year or so she's been very busy with everything that involves being a princess I guess," Falken watched the goblins open the stable doors for the horse drawn carriage to emerge.

"She?" Sarah questioned the singled out word. "Terra?"

"Uh well yes, both of them I suppose," He never let that big brother smile off his face. Sarah opened he mouth to press the subject but Terra walked up just then.

"Everything set?" She asked.

"Looks like it," Sarah said as Falken opened the carriage door for them.

It wasn't a long ride into the city, just a few minutes. The coachmen stopped in a town square looking place. Shops were packed together along the streets. There seemed again to be an aray of creatures here, but mostly goblins and Fae's from what Sarah could see. Falken handed them out of the coach and the shopping trip began. Terra immediately went to work picking out tons of different shades and styles of dresses and cloaks, shoes and accessories. Sarah admired all the lovely looking clothes around her silently.

"Sarah, pick some things out," Terra nudged her. Still Sarah seemed a bit apprehensive. Terra worked her magic into pulling several dresses off the shelves for Sarah to try on. They both headed off to some dressing rooms while Falken waited outside them, taking a seat in a nearby chair. Sarah slipped on one of the dresses Terra had picked out for her. It was a deep purple that cut low in the front and were angled more off her shoulders. The sleeves were short and the skirts flared out just a bit. Sarah stepped out of the dressing room the same time as Terra.

"See! It looks wonderful on you!" Terra smiled triumphantly. They both dodged in and out of the dressing room for a few more minutes until Sarah ran out of dresses. She changed back into her original clothing and went to join Falken while Terra tried on her last dress.

"Well what do you think?" Terra asked stepping out of her room.

"It looks amazing on you," Sarah complemented. It was a dress of deep red, off the shoulders. The corset looking middle tied with elegant ribbons. The trim was lined in a peachy color, and sparklers twinkled brightly all around the dress, the skirts falls all around her. She did a bit of a 360 turn to reveal the low cut back of the dress.

Sarah caught Falken's gaze at Terra. His eyes were fixed on her in a dreamily like state. He didn't blink for a full 30 seconds and it looked like he had forgotten how to breathe.

"Falken?" Terra asked. Her voice seemed to semi snap him out of whatever daze he was in. "What are you staring at?" Terra eyed him.

"Nothing," He cleared his throat. "The dress, it looks beautiful on you Miss Terra," He told her in all sincerity.

"Really?" Terra's eyes sparkled. "I might have to get this one then," She mumbled going back into her dressing room to change. Sarah turned to Falken.

"You can breathe now lover boy," She smirked. Falken turned to her with a confused look on his face.

"Don't give me that look I saw how you were looking at her," Sarah crossed her arms and lowered her voice.

"What are you talking about?" Falken defended. Sarah gave him a knowing look. Falken sighed in defeat and seemed to stare into nowhere, his smile left his face only half way, almost giving off a pity look. "She's a princess Miss Sarah, of the High King nonetheless."

"But your second in command here, Guardian of the Labyrinth isn't that right?" Sarah whispered back. "That must stand for something." Falken just shook his head.

"Not for much," He stated. He seemed to pause for a moment. "You know when we were little kids, I was just a servant boy at the families castle. The first time I saw her, she was out playing in the gardens by herself. I was heading off to the barn with a bucket of water for the horses. Well she fell and cut her knee open. I ran over to her and poured some water over it and tore off the sleeve of my shirt and made a makeshift band-aid." Falken smiled at his reminisces. "After that day, whenever she wanted to go out and play or do anything she would instruct me to go with her. We became very good friends ever since."

"That's sweet," Sarah told him. Before Sarah could say anything else, Terra emerged from the dressing room with the dress in her hands. They rang out and Falken carried the things back to the carriage.

The girls continued shopping for hours. Sarah was growing tired but Terra as usual seemed to have an endless streak of energy that drove her into more shops. All the shopkeepers seemed very helpful, no doubt with Terra being who she was, and some curious to see the human that everyone still seemed to be buzzing about all this time. As they walked out of a shop, Falken right behind them with his arms full of bags, they noticed the sun setting.

"Ladies, don't you think it may be wise to head home now?" Falken suggest looking around and stepping closer to them. A few street torches were lit and most of the people had taken their leave.

"Might be a good idea about now," Terra agreed and they walked back towards the carriage. Sarah couldn't help but noticed they walked in a speeder pace. When they got to the carriage Falken managed a free hand to open the door for them. Terra ushered Sarah inside first while Falken tossed the bags in the back. Once they were all three in the carriage, Sarah spoke up.

"Why were we in such a hurry?" She questioned Terra.

"Well, not that it is really too much to worry about but," Terra seemed to be searching for the right words. "The Market Place takes on a new face and a new set of people at night. It's not exactly the best place to be at that time."

Sarah looked out her window as they pasted the last few streets. There were only a few people here and there, most leaning against walls, eyeing the carriage as it rolled on by. Falken and Terra struck up a lighter conversation as Sarah watched out the window as the few dim lamps from the Market place faded further away.

~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~

He watched the royal buggy trot on past him and the others. A quick look told him that the eldest princess, an escort and the human were riding along in it. He let his eyes follow the carriage until he could just see a glow from its light. He pushed himself off the wall standing up straight and in a flash two others were beside him. Without making any eye contact one spoke up.

"So that's the right one Leon?" The girl spoke up. She was slender, small almost pixie like. She folded her arms in front of her and waited.

"That's right," The husky voice belonging to Leon answered.

"What exactly are we supposed to look for?" The third asked. It was a boy, his short dark hair blow back wildly from his face. His frame was slim and built for speed no doubt.

"I tell you when we get there," Leon answered coolly. "Let's move."

And just like that the three faded into what seemed like the shadows themselves in a blink of an eye.

~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~

"Enjoy your shopping trip?" Jareth greeted them as soon as they arrived home. Dinner was waiting and everyone made their way to the dining hall. After they were all settled, dinner began and everyone began talking about their day. Falken and Jareth conversed on topics Sarah tried to pay attention too, but found herself bored with it. They spoke mainly of finances and such going on in the city. Sarah picked at her food and took a bite here and there. She let her mind wonder to the book she had found last night. She wanted to get someone to read it. She wanted to know more about it, the book intrigued her.

"Sarah, don't you like your food?" Terra asked her, noticed not much being eaten off her plate.

"Oh its fine, I'm just not too hungry I guess. It's been a long day," Sarah covered.

"Yes I suppose it was," Terra agreed.

"But if no one minds I think I am going to head up to my room and change for the night," Sarah stood up and tried to keep her eyes off Jareth's concerned look. She made her way out of the dining hall and walked quickly down a few halls. She looked back every now and then to see if anyone else had followed her. It seemed no one had. Sarah tried to retrace her steps to the library she was in last night. She walked past door after door until she recognized the corner door at the end of the hall. She glanced once again behind her to find the hall empty before she slipped inside the room and shut the door.

"Now where are you..."Sarah mumbled to herself, looking for where she had stashed the book, after a few moments she found it. She picked it up and ran her hand over the cover. She headed back to the door and paused when she touched the door knob. She felt bad for taking this book. It was really none of her business what was in this book or any others books in this room. She had a feeling she wasn't supposed to be in this room. She also wondered if Jareth would find out, or if he would be angry.

She bit her lower lip indecisively.

Then she turned the door handle, book in hand and quickly made her way to her room. She made her way down the halls she came, passing no one. She knew she was going to have to pass the dining hall again, and from the Fae's keen senses, she wondered if they would notice. She heard voice growing louder as she drew nearer to dining room. The door seemed to be only cracked and she bolted right past it, keeping a fast pace. As soon as Sarah got to her room, she closed the door snuggly behind her.

"Running from someone?" A cool voice rang out. Sarah turned around to see Heidi, who was standing up, cleaning bucket in hand. She waited expectantly for an answered.

"No," Sarah dropped the book to her side. "Just, these halls give me the creeps sometimes at night."

"Ah," Heidi wasn't buying it, but she just smirked.

Sarah walked past her and towards her closet, she was going to put the book there until Heidi left. It seemed that wasn't going to go over as smoothly as she wanted.

"What you got there?" Heidi snagged the book out of her hands and held it up to examine it. "What kind of book is this? It doesn't even have a title."

Sarah snatched it back away from her rudely and pulled it snuggly to her chest.

"It's none of your business," Sarah said calmly. Heidi laughed to herself.

"No need to be so defensive, is it your journal or something?" Heidi pried taking a seat, showing she wasn't leaving in a hurry.

"No, not really," Sarah sat down on her bed.

"You won't be able to read that you know," Heidi fiddled with a strand of hair as she crossed her legs. "Unless it's where you are from," Heidi suggested. She could tell by the look on Sarah's face it wasn't, her curiosity was being stirred.

Sarah wasn't sure what to say about that. The girls attitude wasn't helping much either, she seemed very stubborn, nosy and upfront. There wasn't much use in picking a fight with someone though, much less in Jareth's home. So Sarah sighed heavily in defeat.

"No, I can't read it. But I would like to find someone who can read it for me," Sarah hinted.

Heidi got up and started towards the door with a crooked grin on her face.

"Wait," Sarah called. "Where are you going?"

"To finish my chores for the night, I'm a maid not a language teacher," She slightly stuck her nose in the air.

"Grr.." Sarah grumbled as the door shut. Heidi seemed to know just the right things to do to get under people skin. Didn't Jareth say everyone was to treat her as they do him? Jareth wouldn't stand for someone like Heidi, then again, maybe she just didn't like Sarah. She really didn't have enough knowledge of Sarah to form an opinion.

Sarah stared at the book, caressing the cover. She opened it again to look at the images inside, still trying her hardest to put this puzzle together.

~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~

Heidi walked down the hall quickly, wanting to finish up so she could go to her room. All the rooms she was in charge of were cleaned spotless, even Sarah's room. The human girl was weird that was a fact. She seemed to get offended so easily. She only spent the time around Sarah that she had to, not anything more. She didn't think it was such a big fuss she was here. Humans shouldn't be here in the first place but still, it was just a little human.

Heidi continued her pace down the hall until something seemed to flash beside her. She stopped for a moment and looked around, nothing seemed to be there so she made her way closer to her room. Another flash passed her on the other side. This time, she turned around and called out,

"Alright who's there?" No one answered as her voice echoed slightly in the tall hallways. They seemed to look a little darker, more ominous. Heidi narrowed her eyes and kept walking, quicker than before. Her feet were silent as she passed door after door. Out of nowhere she heard a childish giggle that seemed to be coming from every direction.

"Miss Lynnett? Is that you?" She called out in a polite tone. Heidi didn't scare easily, but she had to admit something felt amiss.

'Did it just get colder?' She wondered.

The impish giggle rang out again this time only closer. Heidi leaned back against the wall as the laughing didn't cease. Her eyes darted skittishly back and forth, she felt her heart rate skip a beat then pick up a bit faster. She heard a shuffling noise and looked up.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Cliff Hanger. Oh snap. Sorry it took so longs guys, between moving, two jobs, night classes and a family death, my life has been a been crazy. Next chapter will be posted soon. As always thanks to my lovely Beta, you put up with so many typos from me 3


	11. Invasion

Chapter 12

Invasion

Sarah sighed heavily as she shut the book with a thump. She wasn't getting anything close to being figured out. The letters on the pages were just odd symbols that didn't even seem to read left to right or up to down. Sarah leaned her head back against the headboard and closed her eyes. She wondered if Jareth would find out if she had the book. Would he be angry? She knew she was probably poking her nose in where it didn't belong but it was about a human. It didn't seem to be a common subject here, and somehow she felt as if that was her only connection to home.

A light tap on the door caused Sarah to quickly turn and slip the book under her pillow. The door started to crack open, Sarah sat up straight thinking it was Jareth, and she was a little disappointed to see Heidi poke her head in through the door.

"Miss Sarah?" She asked politely stepping in and closing the door behind her.

"Uh, yes?" Sarah seemed a bit shocked at the girl's politeness after how they had spoken to each other a few minutes ago. The girl walked over and sat down in a chair next to Sarah's bed.

"Well, I shouldn't have been so rude," Heidi started apologetically. "And if you would like, I'll read that book to you."

"Really?" Sarah's eye lit up at the offer. Heidi simply nodded and held her hand out for the book. Sarah brought it out from under her pillow and handed it to her. Heidi sat back in her chair and opened the book. She glanced up at Sarah once more began to read in a low voice.

Sarah listened intently as the girl voiced out the unreadable book.

"Once there was a human boy named Cole who lived Aboveground. This boy had a dull life, his only friends seeming to be in the books he read." The story proceeded on to speak about how he had been reading outside, near sunset. "Cole seemed to have spotted a creature like no other in his world, the creature being no other then a goblin." Heidi's voice brought the story to life in Sarah's mind. It was almost as if she were watching a movie in her mind. She could see the dark haired boy, the shock on his face of seeing a goblin. The story went on to tell how he stumbled through a portal after the goblins. Terra came into the story then, trying to help the boy get back home all the same, trying to hide him. It was so very rare of a human to be there. It wasn't long before Terra conjured up the help of the old wise man who lived right outside the city. He viewed Terra as a granddaughter, so of course he helped her return the boy home, only if he promised to forget everything he saw and tell no one. When the boy got home, he told everyone what had happened to him.

"It wasn't long before mortals started tampering with our portals, believing the boys story enough to do so," Heidi glanced up at Sarah. "The High King soon found out and summoned the wise man to bring the boy back. He was enraged at the wise man for sending him home in the first place. He didn't have the heart to blame his daughter. The boy was brought back to the Underground and before the High family. The boy would have to pay dearly for what he had done. He almost caused the portals between the Aboveground and Underground to be destroyed."

Heidi flipped page.

"By this time, word had spread in the Underground about the human. The High King could only discuss this with he most loyal subject, who was also the best swordsman in all of the kingdom. The boy's fate was decided. He would loose his life for what he had down, along with the wise man that assisted him. The boy was killed by being pierced through the heart, the wise man left to rot in the dungeons of the castle. After that day a new law was written. Humans were banned from the Underground for fear of the destruction of the portals. Now no was to know of this law other then The High King and his Swordsman. No one else had seen the human there, or knew he had ever been. The rest of the kingdom only knew that if a human was found, it was to be brought to the King right away. For the safety of the Underground, the human would be destroyed. The King signed the bill, also knowing if he didn't stick to his own rules, he could loose his crown. No human has returned since."

Heidi closed the book with a soft thud. Sarah's eyes seemed glazed over for a moment before focusing. She wasn't sure what to make of the story. She didn't know how long ago it was written and surely the law about humans couldn't still be in effect.

"Thank you, Heidi," Sarah replied. Heidi handed the book over to Sarah slowly. She seemed to stare too long at Sarah; Finally, she spoke up.

"Wonder if what the book says is still true today," Heidi said in an eerie tone.

"What are you talking about?" Sarah leaned back a bit, wondering about the sharpness in Heidi's eyes.

"I mean, it clearly says that humans are not allowed here. That a human that ever made it here was to be..." She locked eyes with Sarah,"Killed."

"Of course not," Sarah rushed out her words. "I've met the High King, Jareth's father himself." Surely if something like this was still in effect, Jareth would not of let her be discovered so easily, and the High King would of done something by now right? Why would they have a ball, introducing her to everyone, if she were only to be killed? "It's not true."

"But the story clearly states, no one knew the law other then the High King and his Swordsman. Everyone else just knew to bring a human forward if one was found, not knowing what would happen to it," Heidi spoke an a tone that made Sarah's blood run cold. The girl had barely blinked. "You have to wonder who the Swordsman is," Heidi smiled wickedly and walked over to Sarah, picking the book up out of her lap.

"Hey give that-" Sarah was cut off.

"It's no surprise a nosy girl like you would stumble upon this," She held up the book. "I think I'll take it to where it belongs."

"Wait, come back with that!" Sarah cried out, but Heidi was already out the door. Sarah flung herself as quickly as she could over to the doorway and into the hallway.

Heidi was nowhere to be seen.

~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~

The next morning, Sarah slowly made her way down to meet everyone for breakfast. She wasn't very hungry though, and looked a bit peaked. She hadn't slept well all night thinking about Heidi and the book. She could hear everyone else at the table before she even walked in the room. She ran her hand threw her hair once and walked in.

"Morning Sarah," Terra greeted her.

"Hi Sarah," Lynnett beamed.

"Morning," She answered back and took a seat next to Jareth. Her food was brought out and she nibbled on food her and there. She tried to listen in on what Terra was talking about doing for the day. Jareth seemed to catch onto Sarah mood, but said nothing. When Terra and Lynnett were finished and had left the room, he spoke up.

"Sarah is something wrong?" He stared into her eyes thoughtfully. Sarah just couldn't lie to him, not about this. She felt too uneasy and needed some comfort. She needed to know that the book was wrong. That it was just a story.

A few goblins came running into the room to start cleaning up the empty plates.

"Come Sarah," Jareth stood up offering her his hand, "Let's talk somewhere more private. "

Sarah felt defeated for some reason. She just wanted him to tell her there was nothing to worry about.

She took his hand and he led her upstairs and to his room. Sarah felt like dead weight, like every movement was a challenge; she wanted this off her chest. Jareth seated them on a sofa near his balcony. He waited for Sarah to speak.

"Jareth, that room full of books," She started. "That's the real history of this place right? Everything there is documented?"

"You mean the family Library? Yes, everything in there states the rules and history of the Underground. Why?" He didn't sound angry, so Sarah was blunt.

"I took a book out of that room," She looked over at him, trying to read his face. "I found a book about the last human that was here."

Jareth remained silent but she saw his eyes narrow, very slightly.

"I wanted to know what happened to the last human that had been here," Sarah said, she also proceeded to tell Jareth about the Human Law that was written in the book.

"Destroyed?" Jareth hissed. "Impossible, are you sure? I have never heard such a thing. Let me see the book."

Sarah didn't look him in the eye, what was she supposed to say? She had to tell him Heidi took it. She just felt terrible, not only because of the book, but also that it was now gone.

"Well, I don't have it anymore..."She glanced at him for a moment. "Someone took it."

Jareth's eyes flashed for a moment. He seemed to calm himself before speaking.

"And who took it? Stealing from the High Kings Library is a serious offence," Jareth said smoothly.

"Heidi, one of the maids," Sarah admitted. "I asked her to read it to me, and after she did, she took off with it."

Jareth had wondered how she had read it, but if a maid read it for her, there was his answer. But a maid should know better then to take off with a book like that, belonging to the family.

"Jareth I'm so sorry, really-" Jareth placed a finger over her lips, silencing her.

"Sarah I am not angry with you, I would expect nothing less from you," He traced her face, trying to sooth her uneasiness. She honestly thought he would be angry over her over a book? Silly.

But there was someone he needed to speak with now.

~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~

"That was really too easy Leon," Kyra brushed a piece of hair away from her face. "I mean, the Human had the very book right there with her. Tell me that didn't make it a piece of cake. I read the words myself."

Leon, the leader of the trio of Obayifo's glanced over at Kyra.

"Yes, it was too easy, you think those Faes could have handled that easily themselves.

"Don't you agree Ray?" Leon looked over at the quiet Ray. He just simply nodded.

Ray carried the weight of Heidi slung over his shoulder with ease, the maid unconscious.

"Well let's just get this to those snobby royal pain in the-" Kyra was cut off.

"It's not over yet, Kyra. We are being paid for more then bring them a book," Leon brushes a quick kiss over Kyra's lips. The dark creatures quickly started towards their destination, fading into the shadows.

~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~

Jareth teleported himself to his Mother and Father's home. He marched himself to his Father's study, not bothering to knock as he walked in. Jareth's Father looked up from his work.

"Son?" The High King leaned back in his chair. "This is a surprise. What brings you here so suddenly?"

Jareth sat in a high back leather chair in front of his Father.

"I have to ask you something," Jareth started. His Father raised his eyebrows in a Jareth like manner. "There was a Human here before, who was, destroyed." Jareth looked sternly at the King. "A book in the Family Library states that there is a law against humans here. Is that still in effect?"

The High Kings face fell at his son's question. A moment of silence passed between the two.

"Technically, yes," The King spoke with a great sigh. "But there is only myself and one other person who even knows of this law. Who told you?"

"Sarah found the book. She read it, and confronted me about it," Jareth admitted. The High King seemed to ponder for a moment.

"Well as long as no one knows, nothing can be brought up. And if you somehow persuade her to become your Queen," The King eyed his son, "That law will not effect her anymore, She would be brought under the Royal Protection, assuming as well one day she will carry the heir to your thrown."

"The book has been stolen," Jareth stated.

"By whom?" The High King raised his voice a bit.

"A maid at the castle," Jareth told him. The High King leaned over his desk, and looked his son straight in the eye.

"If you want that Human of your safe son, I'd keep her hidden for now. That book needs to be found, now."

~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~

Sunset was at its end, and Jareth was still gone. Sarah sat in her room for most of the day. She doodled for a while, then took a long, hot bath and changed into her nightgown. She wondered what Jareth was doing, and where the book was. Word spread that Heidi had not been seen all day, not any good news there.

Sarah threw herself onto her bed and covered herself in the thick warm blankets. She looked out her balcony window at the half moon before a warm wave of sleep took over her.

Sarah stared dreaming. Dreaming of a Ball, everyone was there. Everyone she had ever met here in the underground. The music was lovely, and she wasn't be stared at. She watched the crowd dance and spin. The glitter of gown, tablecloths, masks, and decorations shone everywhere.

Sarah...

Someone called her, so she turned around.

Sarah...

Again she heard it, but the people where fading away.

"Sarah!"

Sarah shot up straight out of bed, the dream was over. But someone really had just yelled for her...And what was the noise? Sarah thought she could hear crashing noises, people yelling, and clanking sounds. Suddenly Terra, Lynnett and Falken burst through her door.

"Sarah quickly!" Terra yanked Sarah out of bed and dragged her out the door.

"What's going on?!?!" Sarah asked in alarm. They dodged around a corner, going away from the crashing sounds.

"The Obayifo's!" Terra quickly spoke. "And soldiers."

"Obayifo's?" Sarah asked herself. Suddenly a flash back came to mind if the tavern they had stopped at. Those terrible, dark creatures, and the one that had looked straight at her.

Terra led the way, Falken keeping on the girl's heels. Sarah felt clumsy and slow compared to the other three. Terra jerked her around corners and threw doorways. Sarah recognized where they were for a moment. Terra swung open a door leading down, into a dark hall. Sarah hurried down the stairs with the rest of them. Shouting heard not far behind.

The stables.

Terra got to work opening on door while Falken worked on another. Terra pulled out one of the giant horse beast and tossed Lynnett up.

"Sarah quickly!" Terra laced her hands together for Sarah to step on and saddle behind Lynnett.

"What's going on Terra?!" Sarah asked in alarm.

"No time," She said as Falken rode over on another beast and pulled Terra up in front of him. "Lynnett, head towards Fathers Castle, quickly!"

Tiny Lynnett snapped the reigns and the horse took off at break neck speed. Sarah wrapped her arms around the little girl. The blast of the cold hit them suddenly as the broke into the out doors. Sarah turned to see Falken and Terra not far behind.

"Lynnett what's happening?!" Sarah asked again, hoping the little girl would have some kind of answer.

"They are coming to take you away," Lynnett said over the roar of the wind.

"Me?! Why?" Sarah's voice was overtaken by the wind. She could only faintly hear the commotion from the castle, the closer she listened she found she also didn't hear any other hoof beats besides their own. Sarah stole a glance backwards and no longer saw Terra and Falken. Instead, something flashed past her.

The horse let out a shriek and came to a jolting halt. Several flashs seem to appear out of nowhere. With a speedy jerk, Sarah was pulled from the horse into the thick, icy snow.

"No! Let go!" Lynnett's scream of terror rose out of the wind.

"Lynnett!" Sarah stood to reach out to her, but strong hands griped her firmly. Sarah screamed, kicked and fought back with all her might. Soon a hand clamped over her mouth, so hard she couldn't breath.

"Sarah!" She heard Lynnett's echoing voice call her name over and over. "Sarah! Saaaraaaah!

Sarah's air was running low, she tried in vain to suck in a breath, but her captor showed no mercy. Sarah saw nothing but snow and shadows before darkness over took her completely.

* * *

Kill me, smack me, toss me in a well. Way to long to wait to update I know. But with moving in and out of houses, two jobs and full time schooling my time was very limited. Now I am back on a manageable clock. Thanks as always to my wonderful Beta who puts up with me to no end 3 You're amazing. Hope you all liked the chapter! Please review lovies. ALSO keep an eye out for my new story to be posted soon!


	12. Update

A new chapter will be posted next week.

Due to another story, this one was put on hold.

As of now it is back up and going.

Get ready for the new chapter next week!

(After I find my Beta to see if they will still edit my story)

-TheLabyrinthQueen


	13. Show Down

Somebody Still Loves You

Chapter 13

Show Down

Sarah awoke to the buzzing of people chatting away. Everything was echoing and her head hurt. The sounds grew louder and louder. Finally Sarah opened her eyes to find herself in a large room of people. She quickly became alert and looked around. Everyone seemed to notice her waking and hushed a bit. Sarah looked around the grand room to find herself in a sort of court. There was faces she recognized from meeting these Fae's before. These were the other rulers of the Underground. They were sitting in tables surrounding her. She was in a lone chair in the middle of a sea of Fae's.

"Sarah," A voice called out. It sounded weak, restrained. Sarah's eyes locked on to the speaker. Jareth was sitting at one of the tables in front of her. He seemed to be glowing slightly. It almost looked like a sheer material was covering him. Sarah stood and walked quickly to him, she reached a hand out. A sudden zap noise echoed threw the room. Sarah withdrew her hand quickly. There seemed to be some kind of spell, or something, locking Jareth in his seat. The room was silent as she saw Terra and Lynnett in the same position.

"The meeting is now called to order everyone," A voice rang out. Sarah looked up to see Simon standing at a table sitting a little higher then the rest. Jareth's parents were sitting at the same table. "If you would please resume your seat Miss Sarah," He smiled coyly.

Sarah slowly sat back down, she felt like a guppy surrounded by sharks. After looking around for a quick moment, she noticed what was really going on. She was sitting before the High Court of the Underground, making Sarah realize she was on a trial of sorts.

"Now Sarah let me catch you up to date on a few things you've missed," Simon spoke sinisterly, referring to Sarah just waking. "The entire Court knows about the law now," He held up the book. The book Heidi ran off with. Sarah's eyes must have grown twice their normal size. "Everyone knows, Humans were band from the Underground. Any human who was found was to be brought to the High King. Thats all anyone knew, well now everyone knows why. If a human was found here, it was to be put to death, to protect the connection between your world and here."

Mummers came up from the crowd again. She looked over to Jareth, who just like his siblings were locked into there seats by some unseen force. He looked at Sarah with a million emotions dancing in his eyes. Anger, pain, worry, fear. Only then did she notice the guards that stood behind him, and in front of all the exits to the room.

"You don't have any proof," Sarah finally spoke out. "Just a book, you don't have the..."

Sarah didn't finish her sentence. There was no need, Simon slid the signed bill from the back cover of the book.

"Can you deny this signature, your Highness," Simon glanced at the High King. He was silent for what seemed like a lifetime to Sarah.

"No," he sighed out. More mummers from the crowd.

"Then everyone knows the sentence can't be avoided, The Human, Sarah Williams, is sentenced to death by the High King's orders," Simon rang out.

Sarah looked up at Jareths father, waiting for him to say something. After a moment, he stood.

"No, I'm refusing the punishment," The High King Said clearly, silencing the room. This was just what Simon wanted to hear.

"Refusing revokes your crown Your Highness," Simon stated, smiling. "The only rule the King has is he can't go back on his word."

"I know that," Jareths father snapped lightly.

"And you still are denying it?" Simon was done beating around the bush.

The high King simply nodded once. He knew he'd sign that bill years ago. Never again did he think it would ever have a need to come up. Had grown fond of Sarah while she had been here. He also knew what she meant to his Son. How could he destroy her? None of this was her fault.

Sarah was confused, if Jareths Father was no longer the High King, who was? Didn't Jareth take over then? No, then this mess wouldn't be happening. What was going on?

"Then as the law states, the next Ruler with the largest Kingdom will become to new High King," Simon bellowed out.

"Jareth?" One said aloud.

"No, Jareth no longer has the second largest kingdom, when Sarah returned, half of it was turned over to her. Making me, next in line," Simon smiled and looked over at Jareth. "If you were married by now like you father wanted you to be, you would have the thrown I suppose,"

Jareth started to say something, when pain smeared over his face, hushing him once again.

"The punishment will follow threw, Sarah Williams will be put to death in three days time, along with her alcomlence, Princess Terra," Simon nodded the guards to gather Terra as well.

Screaming, yelling and movement seemed to take over the room. Sarah lost her focus on things, it all seemed to blend together. Before she knew it, darkness had overcome her.

~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~

"Sarah," A voice lightly echoed in her head.

Sarah opened her eyes to see a small dull room. Among it she saw nothing but two cots, a door and Terra sitting next to her. She quickly remembered the reality of her situation.

"What are we going to so Terra?" Sarah asked softly. Terra just shook her head once. "Where are we?"

"We are in a holding cell below the Underground Grand Court. Jareth is being held in another cell somewhere here I think as well. To make sure he doesn't get to us," Terra looked around the damp chambers. Never in a million years did she think she would end up here.

"So, we're going to be killed?" Sarah asked Terra. Not that she was expecting her to answer.

"This is my fault. I'm the reason you are here, they should be punishing me. Not you Sarah," Terra laid a hand on Sarah's shoulder in sympathy. "But...We'll find a way out of this I promise."

Sarah just laid her head back against the cold wall and closed her eyes.

~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~

Jareths Mother sat crying on the side of her bed, while Jareths Father paced the floor. He finally sat next to his wife and pulled her to his side.

"Dear, I will fix this somehow," He tried to comfort his wife. He could not loose his oldest daughter. He was no longer King, what could he do? He did the only thing he could think of...

~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~

Jareth sat immobile on the floor propped up against a wall. He formed a crystal in his hands and started rolling it about, hoping to catch a limps of Sarah, but Simon had some of his own magic going too keep Jareth in his own little bubble. Jareth could break it if he wanted too, but that would only cause more of a scene.

"Jareth."

Jareth looked up too see his father standing on the outside of the cell. He looked tired, older. He didn't look Jareth in the eye. His head hung a little low. Jareth stood up and walked over to face his father.

"Bit of a mess hm?" Jareth said solemnly.

"This is my fault son, I should have changed that law long ago," Jareth's father sighed. "I'm sorry."

Jareth just nodded. He didn't really forgive his father at the moment. His Father looked him square in the eyes.

"But I think I know a way this can be fixed."

~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~

Sarah awoke the next morning to the windowless room. She felt stiff, sore. Terra sat next to her not looking any better. So tomorrow the execution was supposed to take place. This was crazy, it was never supposed to be like this. Suddenly a door banged open with two guards walking in.

"Princess Terra, you are coming with us," One said.

A stoke of fear shot threw Sarah. What was happening and why was Sarah not going too? They walked over to Terra and guided her by her arms to the door.

"Don't worry Sarah, it's going to be ok," Terra called to her, not really knowing herself. She heard the door shut behind her and they walked her up a flight of steps. Her Father was at the top of them.

"Father," Terra said as almost a child again and ran to her fathers side. She was surprised the guards didn't try and stop her.

"You are free to go," The other guard said, and they walked away. Terra was puzzled beyond belief.

"Father, whats going on?" Terra asked.

~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~

Sarah could hear mumbling outside her cell, she couldn't make out the words or how many people where talking. After a while longer the door opened and a familiar face appeared.

"Falken!" Sarah sighed out. She stood up and hugged her friend.

"Sarah, everyone is very worried about you," Falken spoke. He looked around the cell quickly. Sarah caught on.

"Terra's not here, they took her out eairlyer today. No one is telling me anything," Sarah leaned back against the wall.

"Strange, Jareth is not in his cell either," Falken pulled his brows together in confusion.

The two chatted for a short time, Falken explained how he found out what was going on. The door opened and shooed Falken out, Grabbing Sarah by the arm and Pulling her out of the cell as well. They carried her threw halls and up steps and around it seemed. No one would tell her what was going on.

Finally, they reached the outside, where it seemed hundreds if not thousands of Fae's were all sitting in some sort of arena. It reminded Sarah of a large sports gathering of sorts, but no one was cheering and it was far to soundless. In the middle of the Arena there was a large stone platform. Sarah was seated in a section which she was happy to find Terra, Lynnett, Falken and Jareth's parents there as well.

"What's going on?" Sarah asked all of them, any of them. Before anyone answered her, she saw Jareth step out onto the stone platform. He didn't completely tun his head to look at Sarah, but his eyes diverted enough to see her.

"Jareth has challenged Simon to a duel," Terra spoke up. "Jareth being of royal blood is allowed to challenge anyone who takes the thrown. This case being Simon. If Jareth wins, he will be the new High King of the Underground and you will be free Sarah Williams."

Jarths Father looked straight ahead, his eyes locked on his son. He looked very solem to Sarah. They all did.

"And what happens if he looses?" Sarah asked quietly.

"Your punishment will be carried out and Jareth will be killed as well," Jareths Father state bluntly.

Sarah knew that was pronely the answer before she even asked. Terra patted her hand but focused her attention to the field. Simon stepped out as well. Sarah could see that the seats on the other side of the arena were lined with Obayifo's.

"So they let you out to see the duel hm?" A far too familiar voice rang into Sarah's ear.

Colleen stood aside her along with a few guards. She had her arms crossed and her eyes were red rimmed, almost like she had been crying. Sarah just looked up, having nothing to say to her.

"I'd like you to come sit with me," Colleen demanded, not asked.

"She is fine right here," Terra stated back firmly. Colleen just gave a quick jester and the guards were picking Sarah up out of her seat. She heard the other start rebelling at her being taken from them, but there way nothing they could do at the moment.

Colleen led them to a set of seats directly in the middle, front row, with few others close to them. Colleen sat down and motion for Sarah too as well, she did.

"I hope you know this is all your fault right?" Colleen told her.

"I guess you could say that," Sarah answered back, not completely agreeing.

Then Simon spoke.

"Jareth has challenged me for the right to the thrown in a duel to the death. If I win, Jareth will be destroyed along with the human girl. I shall also keep my thrown. If he wins, He will win the thrown."

"Wait!" Colleen said out loud. Her Father walked over to her with anger on his face.

"What it is Colleen?" He asked.

"You told me you weren't going to kill him! You said when you won, you would have Jareth marry me!" Colleen growled out. Her father waved her off.

"Of course he'll die, then no one has the right to challenge me, the thrown will be mine," He answered greedily. "You can marry whoever you want for all I care, its none of my concern. But, Jareth will die today," And with that he walked back on to the field.

Colleen looked so crushed, as if she watched everything she wanted crash and burn. He anger flared and Sarah was portably going to be the one she took it out on.

"Let the duel begin!" Simon shouted as she shot a stream of magic straight as Jareth who swiftly dodged it and fired right back. They were almost moving too fast for Sarah to keep up with. After what seemed like forever but was really only a few moments, a bolt hit Jareth in his shoulder and caused him to skid into the ground.

"Jareth..." Sarah whispered and leaned forward.

He made a quick recovery and the duel went on. Bolts and beams were flying everywhere. Some Fae's gasped, other were silent. Among the silent ones was surprisingly, Colleen.

Another shot, and Jareth was back on the ground, this time, it took him longer to get up.

"Is that all it takes to defeat the Goblin King?" Simon mocked, Jareth answered him with a quick kick to his face. The fight waded on with Jareth taking most of the damage. He was getting slower, his aim becoming off. He was moving slow enough now for Sarah to see the blood on him. Another crushing blow sent him pounding into the ground cracking the stone. He seemed to slowly try to stand. It was going to be too slow.

"Jareth move!" Sarah yelled suddenly.

Jareth heard her and suddenly got an adrenalin rush. He was up and moving throwing everything he had at Simon. He hoped it was going to be enough.

"This is terrible," Terra said. He can't hold out like this. Tiny Lynnett leaned against her sister with tears in her eyes.

"Your wearing down too fast Jareth," Simon blew out a breath. Suddenly a sword appeared in Jareths hand, along with Simon. "Let's see if you can handle a sword."

Steel on steel clashed and made an ear shattering ring. Simons swordsmanship was showing. Jareth couldn't get one single hit on him. The two shuffled around the field and Simon got a slice on Jareths arm enough for him to back down a bit.

"He's going to loose," Colleen said. Sarah looked over at her. She looked calm, almost reprised.

"What do you mean?" Sarah asked quickly.

"I've seen this a hundred times over. This is how my Father takes out opposites. He tires them out, the starts slashing them down. They are so weak, they can't fight back. He will stab Jareth threw the heart soon," Colleen sounded hallow, empty.

"No," Sarah mumbled out, "No."

"I love Jareth Sarah, I really do," Colleen said quietly. Sarah half looked at her, confused again. "But he doesn't want me. He loves you, more then anyone. He's never looked at me or anyone else like he does you, I don't deserve him, and you don't deserve how you have been treated by me."

"Collen, I-" Sarah started, but Colleen stood up.

"Just allow me to apologies, Sarah," Colleen smiled at her. Only then did her personality mesh with her beauty making her someone Sarah would have admired if she were like this all the time. "Please tell Jareth, I wish him all he deserves."

From the look of Jareth, Colleen was going to be right. Jareth was slower now, and was doing more blocking then attacking. Simon made a move causing Jareth to loose his footing and go tumbling back. Simon followed in with his sword ready to slash.

"You lose Jareth," Simon hissed.

Blood splattered only the stone ground. It seeped threw Colleens dress, and down the blade piercing her heart. Colleen in a lighting fast move, blocked Jareth from her Father's rage. Colleens' last few, slow breaths were short as she fell to her knees. She looked up at her Father with dark eyes. He looked back down at her in surprise, but he didn't show any other emotion.

"No Simon, you lose," Colleen blew out before her body hit the ground in is sickening move that Sarah knew she would never forget. Gasps could be heard everywhere, someone even screamed. But before another second went by Jareth lunged forward with the sword, sticking it threw Simon.

He looked shocked, and fell back. Within a few more seconds, his eyes rolled back into his head and he breathed no more.

~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~

Jareth was now the High King of the Underground. Simon was killed, along with Colleen, who in a selfless effort, saved Jareth. Jareth was a bit beat up, but was going to be just fine. The kingdoms had settled down a bit and it was time for dinner. Jareth's parents, Terra, Lynnett, Falken, Jareth and Sarah all sat at the long table filled with food. Everyone was cleaned up and tired.

"A toast to the New High King," Jareth Father smiled down at his son. Everyone toasted and drank form their glasses.

"Thank you," Jareth commented to everyone. His Father waved him to lean closer to him.

"I hope you will not be ruling alone son," He whispered eyeing Sarah.

"I hope not either," Jareth smiled. He was going to ask Sarah to be his Queen.

"Lady Terra!" A tiny Goblin ran into the dinning room. This was totally un-called for in a royal house hold. The goblin held a page from a book and handed it to Terra. Terra's eyes glanced over it, then were suddenly wide.

"Sarah come with me," Terra stood up. "Jareth, you too, everyone."

The puzzled group followed Sarah down the halls and out the castle doors. The all asked questions but she didn't answer a one, they reached the gardens where a large, stone circle was set in an opening.

"Look," Terra pointed. "Both moon's are aligned tonight."

The underground, having two moon's, were completely aligned and shown brightly. In the middle of the stone, a spark lit. It grew larger, causing a glow and somewhat a a tear in the air.

"This is your way home Sarah," Terra said, almost sadly. "If you step threw here, it will take you home."

"Home," Sarah said to herself. She could she her dad, Karen, Toby. She could sleep in her own bed, be normal, in her world. The glow suddenly dimmed a little.

"What's happening?" Falken asked.

"It's getting smaller," Lynnett commented.

"Sarah you have to go!" Terra told her. "The moons wont stay like this long, you'll lose your chance."

"Wait, I have to go right now?" She asked panicked. Could she leave right now? Could she come back?

"Yes, the moons only allin this way once every one hundred years, you won't get another chance," Terra said.

Sarah looked at Jareth, his face was emotionless. He stood still not saying anything,

"Jareth?" Sarah questioned.

"This is your only chance," Jareth said. "No one will stop you." This was the last thing he selfishly wanted. But he couldn't tell her not to go.

Sarah looked at the glowing light. Should she go home? She may never get a chance to come back. She didn't know if she could leave Jareth after all they had just been threw together. And they way she felt about him, what did she feel? Jareth did everything she asked, always treated her well and admired her in every way. Sarah new this, and she new it well.

The Light faded a little more.

"Sarah?" Lynnett asked. Sarah looked down at tiny Lynnett with her shining eyes. Then she took a step twords the Light, then another.

She could touch it now.

"Jareth?" She said, and turned back around. He looked at her solemnly.

"Yes Sarah?" He didn't want to loose her now.

"Do you want me to stay, or go?" Sarah asked him. Jareth couldn't lie, he wanted her here, with him.

"I want you to be happy, Sarah," was all Jareth could seem to say. He wasn't lying though.

Before another word could be said, Sarah walked straight over to Jareth and stood an inch from his face. Everyone looked shocked as the Light grew dimmer still. Sarah put her hand to the side of Jareth's face.

"What are you doing?" He whispered sadly. Sarah just smiled.

"I want you to tell me you want me to stay, Jareth," Sarah whispered back. Jareth snaked an arm around her waist and pulled her into a soft embrace. He inhaled her scent slowly. He tried to remember everything about her, everything since she got here. What she had just said was blurring threw this mind. He brushed her hair behind her ear.

"I want you to stay here with me and been my Queen, Sarah," He said lowly in her ear.

With that Sarah wrapped her arms around Jareth and silently vowed to never let him go. It was but a moment before Jareth did the same.

~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~

-holds up shield- Sorry for the LOOOOONG wait. My other book had some work that kept me involved for a while!


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